Naruto's Pet
by BakaNekoSan
Summary: Being chased by Sakura sends Sasuke over the edge to try out a jutsu that he had never used before, turning him into a DOG! And what luck! Naruto suddenly wants one just in time to get Sasuke! SasuNaruSasu INCOMPLETE AND ADOPTED BY KitsuneLuvr88
1. Escape Jutsu Gone Wrong

**Yay! BakaNekoSan now has a beta for this story! (does a little dance) So you can expect it to be better worded and all that jazz! (since I'm completely horrible with words and grammer... (sweatdrop))**

**Thanks much to my beta: Hyde n Psyc! She did an amazing job on editing it!**

**Warning: Pairing is SasuNaruSasu only because there are situations where Naruto takes the dominent role, but Sasuke is a dog, so don't fret too much about it! Also: there will be nothing dirty happening when Sasuke is a dog! He may have a couple "moments" we'll say, but nothing close to truly doing the dirty!**

**Please do enjoy!**

**Escape Jutsu Gone Wrong**

_Damn it! I can't get rid of her! She's still behind me!_

Uchiha Sasuke had a Haruno Sakura hot on his heels. Today she was more persistent than ever to get his attention and it was starting to become very annoying for him. He had tried many things, including the very meticulous art of teleporting to a random spot in Konoha; that hadn't worked and anything else he tried she was able to follow rather easily. All Sasuke wanted right now was a moment to himself.

Unfortunately for Sasuke, Sakura wasn't one to give up easily. She never had been and never would be. She was set on doing _something _with him, whether it was just to talk or to go on a date – something she started asking him almost daily ever since he came back from killing Orochimaru and Itachi – and Sasuke wasn't about to do anything with her. She wasn't the person he liked. She seemed to know that but refuse to register the fact.

Sasuke's thoughts grew frantic as he racked his brain for a way to escape from the annoying, love obsessed – or to be more correct, the _Sasuke_-obsessed – female.

A memory of the days when Kakashi had trained him came to mind. His sensei had gone so far as to teach Sasuke a technique that, Kakashi had confided to a bored Uchiha, allowed one to escape from any predicament. It was something that had seemed pointless to him at the time– after all, when would an Uchiha, much less _Sasuke_, ever need to escape from any kind of battle? So he had only half-listened to what his sensei had to tell him.

However, his common sense hadn't let him completely space out. In the very least, he knew how to perform the jutsu! He had paid enough attention to that part to remember the correct hand signs.

Quickly ducking into an alleyway, Sasuke made the hand signs he remembered Kakashi doing for the technique. After completing them he had expected to maybe somehow become camouflaged in with the surroundings or reappear in a different spot that Sakura wouldn't be able to follow or even become invisible. He wasn't really sure what would happen.

A sudden puff of smoke encased his body, but, much to his confusion, Sasuke remained in the same spot.

_Is this some sort of transformation jutsu, or what?_

When the smoke cleared everything seemed to be... a different color?!

After blinking a few times and looking around he found that there _wasn't _any color– absolutely none... And everything looked about five times bigger than it had before! _What the...?_

Sasuke glanced at the ground in hopes that he had fallen into a hole. But instead of dirt walls, his eyes were met with a pair of furry... _**paws**_?! He swiveled his head around to see a scruffy tail protruding from his rear and his entire body covered in fur the same color as his hair used to be. At least that's what it _looked _like. He couldn't really be sure, seeing as all he could make out was either black, white, or varying shades of gray.

Sasuke came to a sudden realization:

HE WAS A DOG!!!

What the hell was Kakashi thinking?! What an escape jutsu! Sasuke was incredulous. All it'd done was transform him into a dog! He could have done that _just _as easily with a transformation jutsu!

The pink-haired female – even though Sasuke could no longer tell that her hair was a color anymore since it looked to be gray – dashed down the alley towards him.

Great. Now she was going to spaz at what a "cute doggy" he was... But, contrary to his predictions, she ran right past him as if he wasn't even there.

The Uchiha turned his head in the direction Sakura had gone in.

It worked? It _really _worked?!

Sasuke didn't care anymore about Kakashi's stupid jutsu. All he wanted _now _was to get out of this dog's body. There was a spot on his back he knew he wouldn't be able to scratch without thumbs, and he was beginning to think he had automatically received fleas when he'd done the jutsu.

He sat back for a moment, trying to ignore the new itch, when he realized: he didn't know how to change back!

_Oh,_ _shit..._

But that wasn't the only problem:

From the entrance of the alleyway came three huge figures. In actuality, they were pretty small– medium at best. But to Sasuke– him being the size and shape of your average dog and all– the situation looked like the Giant was having friends over and poor little Jack, a.k.a. Sasuke, smelled like an Englishman. Upon closer inspection, Sasuke recognized them as the kids that always hung around Naruto.

Joy of joys.

"Hey, look at that ugly mutt!" spoke the one that acted as the leader.

This explained why Sakura didn't even bother Sasuke as much as a passing glance... If he was ugly...

Out of nowhere the trio jumped on Sasuke. The leader was on his back while the girl and the one with glasses stood by as if waiting for instruction.

Sasuke was now on his stomach. He tried lifting himself up, but found the two kids to be too heavy for him to lift. His strength had been completely drained from him! What the hell kind of jutsu _was_ this?!

-"Damn kids! Get off me!!!"-

The Uchiha's mouth was open and he had every intention of saying this, but all that came from him was what sounded like an annoyed snarl. Not the human kind, either. The kind that came from an angry dog.

And _just _like a dog, Sasuke had lost his speaking privileges. That was ok, he supposed, since he never talked much anyways. But was this the only good thing about being a dog?

The leader slapped Sasuke on the nose in response to his snarl. It turned out to really hurt! Sasuke nearly yelped at the burning sensation that ran through his long, fuzzy snout once the pain registered with his canine brain.

The pain pissed Sasuke off and he tried his best to snap at the two that held him down. He wanted to scare them off.

A sharp kick was made to his ribs and he gave a cry of pain when he felt a snap around where his ribs were in this new body. God, did _he _ever feel pathetic.

"Hey! Quit hurting that dog!" yelled a familiar voice. The kicks to Sasuke's sides came to an immediate stop.

The weight of the annoying brat on his back disappeared as he obeyed. Sasuke looked up to see who it was that saved him from the torture the little idiots were putting him through and was greeted with the sight of Naruto, who scolded his tormentors severely, threatened to tell their parents what they'd done, and shooed them away. Never before had Sasuke been so glad to see the blonde.

"Poor dog..." Naruto said quietly as he sat cross-legged in front of Sasuke. He reached out and rubbed the top of Sasuke's head.

For some reason it felt really good to the Uchiha, and he let his eyes close in relaxation. He felt like he could maybe, possibly, fall asleep like this.

"You look homeless..."

A thought suddenly occurred to Naruto and his excitement levels skyrocketed: "I've never had a pet before!" he exclaimed.

Sasuke was shocked at the idea, and quickly sat up, jerking his furry head away from the comfort of Naruto's hand. There was no way in _hell _he was going to be _anybody_'s pet!

His thoughts seemed to be sent telepathically to Naruto: the blonde made a lunge for Sasuke just as the dog tried running off, managing to grab onto one of his hind legs with one hand and wrap his other arm around Sasuke's torso, keeping a tight grip on the former Uchiha's back while getting a face full of Sasuke's tail.

Sasuke flailed every limb he could think of in the process of trying to free himself, but his attempts failed miserably. The little strength he had in this body couldn't compare to all of Naruto's, which the blonde wasn't even using!

With a pitiful grunt, Sasuke allowed Naruto to pick him up in his arms. He was nearly too big to be carried by Naruto, but the blonde acted as if it were a simple task in carrying his captive towards his house.

_Damn...__ what am I going to do about this...?_

* * *

**Well, now I'm off to the world of BakaNekoSan since she is free to do whatever she wishes to for two weeks! Tra-la-la-la-laaaa! (In other words: CHRISTMAS BREAK!!! NO SCHOOL!!!)**

**More revised chapters to come at a later date.**

**Forever the BakaNekoSan :3**


	2. Bath

**Edited thanks to my beta!**

**Warning: "Bad touch!" Possible OOC-ness. **

**Bath**

As soon as Sasuke had all four paws on the ground, he got them in motion. Being carried had been bad enough to make him believe Naruto was trying to assassinate his dignity, but through the entirety of town? Even worse! He vowed he'd escape before it could get any worse.

Unfortunately, he was only used to having _two _legs; the extra limbs tripped him up and he tumbled to the floor, which, he had to admit, he wasn't too far away. It hurt less when he fell.

"Man, are _you _a clumsy dog!" He heard Naruto laugh from somewhere behind him. _And BLAM! _thought Sasuke. _Anther hit to my pride. _

-"You're going to pay for this, dobe!"-

Glaring at the extra legs, Sasuke climbed back up and tried to walk around. This time, thankfully, he was successful. As long as he was careful about how he placed his legs he wouldn't trip again. He tottered around in a very un-Uchiha-like fashion testing out his new legs until he got the hang of it and then, finally, when he understood the way a dog was supposed to walk, Sasuke fled to the room to see if he could find some form of an escape route. Sadly, there were none he could get through without thumbs.

_Damn._

"Ok, first thing," called Naruto, who, apparently, was talking to Sasuke, "is going to be a bath! You look like you need it!"

This news didn't please Sasuke in the least. He wasn't keen on the idea of Naruto bathing him and was quick to dash beneath the sanctuary of the blonde's bed, making sure he was in the corner farthest from Naruto so as to keep out of his reach.

"Oh, come on! It won't be that bad!" pleaded the blonde as he got on his hands and knees to look under his bed.

Sasuke sniffed at this remark, shaking his head vigorously as he did so.

-"Maybe for _you _it wouldn't!"-

He needed to find a way to change back to his original form before he really _did _become Naruto's pet! Regrets about his insolence towards Kakashi were beginning to pop up while he was squashed under that mattress, breathing in dust bunnies with every shallow breath. Suddenly, there was a sharp pull on Sasuke's hind legs and he was dragged backwards from under the bed.

"Got'cha!"

Frantic at not being able to get a grip on anything, Sasuke scrabbled his claws around on the ground, marking the floor up as he was pulled. By the time his head, last to emerge, was pulled into the light of the room, he was willing to do anything to keep from getting a bath and, in a last-ditch attempt, displayed a wonderful show of slinky-ism, throwing himself at one of the legs to the bed and sinking his teeth in while his body was stretched like taffy by Naruto.

"Hey! That's not fair!" pouted Naruto as he continued pulling on Sasuke.

The Uchiha would've smirked if dogs could, but the ends of his lips did curl upwards as he clamped down harder on the wooden post of the bed as if his life depended on it.

-"Fair my ass! You have thumbs!"-

After a few more seconds of the struggling with each other Sasuke's legs were dropped. The dog still held a grip on the bed in fear that Naruto was just trying to trick him into letting go.

That wasn't Naruto's plan at all!

Both of Naruto's hands made a grab at what was called the 'rump' on a dog, but, considering Sasuke still thought of himself as if he was in his human body, it felt as if Naruto was groping his ass!

The shock of it got a yelp to escape from Sasuke's throat and cost him his hold on the leg of the bed. Naruto had a handful of hair from Sasuke's rump and snatched him backwards into his lap when he let the bed go. The blonde wrapped his arms around Sasuke's chest and squeezed him up against his own in victory.

"Heh... heh heh! Thought you would get away from me...? You're dead wrong! No one can get away from me... not even _Uchiha Sasuke_!" Naruto worded this proudly to the dog.

The ears on top of the dog's head twitched at the mention of his name.

Naruto continued on with this, "I was the one responsible for bringing him back! He didn't look too thrilled to come back after killing his brother, but I wouldn't let him go! Once you get close to me I won't give up on you!" he smiled to himself as he gave Sasuke a squeeze in his happiness, who almost choked with the lack of air this created. "That goes for you too! I've always wanted a dog!"

Sasuke couldn't help but feel that Naruto was a true moron for telling this kind of thing to a _dog_, but at the same time he felt happy. The tail thumping weakly on the floor was a strong indicator, and the _only_ one, physically at least. The wagging stopped shortly after Sasuke became aware of it.

"Well, mutt... since you're so stubborn about getting a bath..."

This set Sasuke's tail to wagging once again, thinking that Naruto would reconsider giving him a bath.

"I'll just have to take one with you!"

The tail froze in mid-wag.

-"_**WHAT**_?!"- Sasuke's exclamation came out as a desperate howl. He started to thrash in Naruto's arms. There was no way he was going to take a bath with that stupid dobe, who hadn't even listened to his opinion in the first place! His paws repeatedly pushed at Naruto's chest and arms, but the blonde held on with a fierce determination to the squirming dog.

"You're... getting... a... bath..." Naruto struggled to keep his grip, holding even tighter to keep the dog in his arms "...whether you... like it... or... _**NOT**_!!!" and pinned the dog to the floor with his whole weight, thinking that there was no other way to calm him down.

Having nowhere to go and no way of moving, Sasuke was taken over by panic. He tried wiggling again and backing up, but found Naruto to be too heavy for him to move. _Stupid ramen...Stupid carbs. You made Naruto too heavy!_ It sucked being weak!

Time passed slowly as Sasuke continued wriggling underneath Naruto, but with every movement he felt a little more of his energy slipping away; he was beginning to get exhausted from moving so much with such a huge weight on top of him – Naruto! Not wanting to, but finding that he had no other choice, Sasuke gave in: he relaxed his muscles and breathed heavily through his nose, putting up the proverbial white flag.

Why him? Couldn't Naruto pick another dog? Besides, if Sasuke was _ugly _then why would Naruto want him? In Sasuke's opinion, if you were going to get a dog you had to do it right: something pretty and intelligent (not that he wasn't, but he was feeling sort of stupid for not knowing how to get out of the mess he was in), and easy to train, and if it happened to have a pedigree that'd be a plus. Sasuke was pretty sure he wasn't a purebred puppy-dog.

Realizing that "his" dog had finally settled down, Naruto grinned to himself and sat up. He carried Sasuke the same way he had to carry him home and gently placed the tired dog in his tub, quickly turning the knobs to start the bath.

The Uchiha lay down miserably, his muscles aching already from the stress he had put on them when trying to escape from underneath Naruto. The water pooled up and around his sides, but he took no notice of it.

What _did _grab his attention was a completely nude Naruto happily hopping into the tub and sitting right in front of him. It was ok for a guy to see another guy naked in appropriate places like a communal locker room when everybody was changing, but putting them in a small space such as a bathtub was where Sasuke drew the line. Plus – Sasuke felt his body heat up – he had _feelings_ for Naruto, though it was more like a playful crush, if anything, or so he told himself. This wasn't exactly the greatest thing that could've happened to him right then! Too bad he couldn't do anything about it... well, he _could_, but he didn't want to be pinned down while Naruto had absolutely _nothing_ on, which was most likely to happen if he tried escaping. It might not have bothered Naruto since he thought Sasuke was just some stray, but Sasuke would go through the torture of having the blonde on him while they were both in the nude! (The thought that dogs don't wear clothing anyways didn't quite cross his mind– that's how scrambled his brain was right then.)

"Hey, mutt, come here!"

Naruto reached out for Sasuke, but the Uchiha attempted to jump up and move away; a very bad idea since the water and Sasuke's paws didn't seem to like one another very well, sending him sliding between Naruto's legs.

Sasuke's nose made a dive into Naruto's stomach followed by his chest pushing up against-

_Oh god...__ I don't think I can handle this! _

A pitiful whimper emerged from Sasuke's throat as he sat perfectly frozen in this position. If dogs could blush then Sasuke's entire face would be red! The rapid drumbeat of Sasuke's heart was now obvious to him: his poor little doggy's heart felt like it was going to explode.

"That's what you get for getting all excited like that! Let it be a lesson to you to not splash around in the tub!" Naruto grinned as he reached for the knobs to turn off the water, it being at Sasuke's shoulders while he was lying down. Naruto began tossing water on Sasuke, giggling to himself as he did since Sasuke kept shaking his head anytime water fell to his face.

When he realized his arms didn't have the proper joints to reach his face, Sasuke came to the conclusion that he _had_ to shake his head to keep the water from slowly dripping down his face.

Sasuke allowed Naruto to cover his body with water as he wrestled with his brain for control of his eyeballs. His brain told them to look and memorize, but Sasuke's free will told them to turn away in shame and repent...well, roles might've been switched. But one half was fighting the other, that much he was sure. Naruto, drenched in water like he was, looked so-

_STOP IT! FOCUS! NO PERVY THOUGHTS!!! _

A loud sigh was heaved as Sasuke diverted his eyes away from Naruto and onto something else in the room that wasn't near as interesting. A wall tile, for instance.

Naruto's hands started rubbing against Sasuke's body slowly, but with force. The Uchiha's stomach did a back flip at the touch and he had to fight hard to keep himself under control. What would Naruto think if his dog started 'attacking' him? Sasuke pressed his head against Naruto's chest and breathed heavily through his nose.

"Does that feel good, boy?" the blonde questioned. He was delighted that his new pet was finally settling down. He continued with the long, hard strokes he made on Sasuke's back and sides as he grinned.

_You're... __**killing **__me, Naruto, _thought the Uchiha in embarrassment as his body continued to get hotter and hotter. He snapped his dark eyes shut, hoping that this would somehow help him in his predicament.

A sudden soapy feeling was added to the mix of Naruto's rubbing.

Good. The bath would be over once he was rinsed off! He couldn't take much more of this!

Sasuke was made to sit up and quickly turned to face opposite of Naruto now as the soapy hands ran their fingers against Sasuke's chest.

Why did he have be put through this torture?! His best friend – and crush – was giving him a full body rubdown and he couldn't do anything to stop it!

It briefly occurred to him that even if he'd had the power to stop it he probably wouldn't have, anyway.

But when Naruto's hands slowly lowered to Sasuke's stomach the Uchiha visibly flinched. His stomach was obviously his weak spot; he felt himself get turned on by this and did everything in his power to keep control. Sure, it was wavering and about to snap, but Sasuke still had his self-control!

Naruto's hands didn't show any signs of stopping and as they continued to lower themselves the dog began feeling uneasy. He was concerned with the area just below his stomach, fearful that Naruto may actually go so far to bathe the spot.

_I swear dobe! If you do that...__ I won't be able to..._

Sasuke pressed his back up against Naruto's chest not wanting to be touched _there_ by Naruto, but it was like getting stuck in a Chinese finger trap: no escape...

_Damn...__ you...__ Naru...__ to!_

* * *

**FYI, Sasuke was "touched!" **

**I hope you enjoyed! More revising to come!**

**Forever the BakaNekoSan :3**


	3. Goodnight

**So here's the next chapy.**

**Warning: Sasuke has pervy thoughts (nothing to the extreme) and slight hints at Sasuke being uke (Sasuke is always seme in my mind just to let you know. this was just fun to write). Possible OOC-ness, it's for the readers to decide.**

"**Goodnight"**

As soon as Naruto had finished with rinsing Sasuke off, the dog frantically jumped from the tub, splashing water all over the floor, to Naruto's dismay, and ran best he could to curl up in a corner of Naruto's bedroom. He felt cold and shivered, but that was the least of his problems. He was sexually aroused by the blonde and didn't know what else to do since he was in a dog's body. All he _could_ do was keep away from Naruto, but that would be difficult since he was in _Naruto's _house!

A pool of water was now surrounding his very wet body since he had failed to let Naruto dry him. He didn't want to risk being touched again by the male so didn't care for being dry as of now even though the house temperature was very cold, making him sneeze as a response to the chilly atmosphere.

Something wrapped around him and he jumped; he hadn't been paying attention to anything around him, so he wasn't expecting something to suddenly make a move. He needed to be more aware of his surroundings and not let his guard down so easily!

Looking around to see what it was that had touched him, he found a now dressed Naruto wrapping him in a towel. Sasuke eyed the clothing wearily. Naruto was always cute in Sasuke's mind, but the pajamas that the blonde wore were clearly bigger than he was and gave him the look of innocence.

Sighing and turning his head back around, Sasuke thought, _at least he __**has**__ clothes on…_ For all he knew, Naruto could be one of those people that walked around their house with no clothing on at all, so this was something to be thankful for! **(1)**

"I don't want you catching a cold on me! You need to get dried off!" chirped the male happily as if the dog didn't understand why he was wrapping a towel around him.

Having the towel wrapped around Sasuke's entire body now Naruto decided to pull the dog into his lap to make it easier to rub the thick piece of cloth roughly against Sasuke's body to get him dry. He became worried when he heard whimpers coming from the dog and put the rubbing on hold and bent over to look the shivering animal in the face. "I'm not hurting you am I?"

The Uchiha's body trembled even more after Naruto asked him the question. He'd rather the sounds he made to be caused from Naruto 'hurting him,' but already being aroused as he was, the rough movement Naruto's hands made against his body only inclined his desires for the blonde.

"I'll try to be gentle then." Naruto continued with drying Sasuke and as he said, he used little force on Sasuke opposed to the motion he had used before.

When he was finished he removed the towel and happily shouted, "All done!" and beamed in a childish manner towards the dog.

Sasuke was thankful that it was finally over. He felt his hair ruffled way too much for his liking, so he stood up and shook savagely in attempt to make all of his hair fall back into place.

The blonde giggled as the drops of water that remained in the dog's fur came off in a light cloud of mist. When Sasuke was finished shaking, Naruto laughed at the dog's hair sticking up in all directions in a very cute, but funny way. "You look like a giant fluff ball!" he cracked while holding tightly to his stomach as if it were about to bust.

-"Shut up, dobe."- growled Sasuke in an ill mood now that the intimate feelings were crushed by the comment of him looking like a 'fluff ball.' His hair must have been long enough to provide this _lovely _visual… He shivered at the thought and decided that he never wanted to see this image of himself.

It took a moment for Naruto to quit giggling, which further Sasuke's irritation, but as the blonde calmed down he ran his fingers through Sasuke's fur to help it lay flat on his body; a soothing feeling to the dog as he sat back down in Naruto's lap.

"Well, I'm going to bed, mutt," yawned the blonde when he had succeeded in brushing all of the dog's hair with his fingers.

-"Good riddance!"- snorted the dog as he lay on the floor and watched Naruto climb to his feet and collapse against his bed, though he had wished that Naruto would have continued to caress him with his fingers.

Once the male had made himself comfortable in his bed he called to Sasuke, "Come on! You're coming to bed too!" he even made the motion of lifting the blankets up with one hand while patting on his mattress with the other suggesting that Sasuke crawl in bed with him.

Two words came to Sasuke's mind and only two words: _HELL_ _NO!_

What made Naruto so thick to make him think that he, Uchiha Sasuke, would ever crawl in bed with him?! This contradicted the Uchiha's feelings, but since he was a dog there was no way he would risk sleeping in the same bed as Naruto!

But Naruto _didn't_ know that his new dog, his new _pet_, was Sasuke… This fact _really _annoyed the Uchiha. What was he going to do to tell Naruto? Spell it out for him?!

Sasuke took unnecessary time to glance down at his paws. He had no thumbs so writing to the blonde would be rather difficult. There was always the option of etching it into the ground with his claws. That he could do, but Naruto would get upset with him if he found the dog trying to scratch up his floor.

"Hey, dog! Get in the bed!" demanded the now peeved Naruto. Obviously he didn't like his pet being disobedient.

The response was a growl. Sasuke didn't like Naruto giving him commands and turned his body to face away from the male to show that he wasn't moving.

Naruto flinched at the fact that his _dog _just turned on him! Weren't dogs supposed to be _loyal _to there master?!

"Ok, _mutt_, if you're going to be stubborn about sleeping too," he jumped out of the bed, mad as hell, and raced towards Sasuke.

The Uchiha yelped in shock when he felt himself being pinned down by Naruto for the _second _time in one day.

_I'm not very fond of this position… _Sasuke thought to himself moodily as he tried wriggling from underneath Naruto, but gave up, seeing that he wasn't very strong at all as a dog.

Naruto chuckled as he finished what he was saying to the dog, "then I'll just have to _make _you sleep with me!"

Onyx eyes widened to the very suggestive line.

_Oh god…_

His mind tortured him with visuals of the intimate variety with _Sasuke _being on top since he hated the bottom position as of now. His eyes snapped shut at his perverse thoughts and groaned noisily to his turmoil. Sure, he had sexual fantasies – which he would _never_ admit to; he had too much pride – of the blonde and himself before, but never while said blonde was _on top _of him!

The weight of Naruto was removed as he snatched Sasuke up in his arms that looked like a form of a bridal-style hold. Sasuke didn't like this; he would _never _play the part of a bride! He pawed at the air with all four of his limbs to try and free himself from the hold Naruto had on him. This only tired him more.

Naruto released Sasuke from his arms and the Uchiha panicked at the fall. His paws couldn't be used to grab anything so it was like falling with your hands tied! He was quick to calming down, however, when he realized that the blonde had just playfully thrown him on the bed.

His furry nose sniffed the air noisily. Naruto's scent was strong on his bed and smelled nice. It relaxed the Uchiha, but this didn't last as a feeling of bliss coming from behind him made the raven-haired dog whip around nervously. He wanted to be sure that Naruto wasn't trying anything like abruptly wanting to 'play' with him.

Again, a rush of dirty images crossed the Uchiha's mind.

_Damn it! Something's cursed me to have perverse thoughts while being around the dobe… I need to get away from him!_

The happy blonde pounced on the bed beside Sasuke and grinned. He slowly declined himself so he'd be face-to-face with Sasuke and gleefully chattered on to the dog, "Now's the time for a goodnight kiss!"

Poor Sasuke didn't have time to think of how childish this sounded. The mention of receiving a kiss from Naruto sent Sasuke's body up against the wall in a panic. If he were in his human body then it wouldn't have been a problem for Sasuke to quickly lock lips with the blonde at this offer, but again, because he was a dog it would be difficult to perform this and it would not only freak out the blonde, but get Sasuke kicked out of Naruto's home as well.

_Wait… isn't that a good thing?_

But Sasuke didn't want to risk Naruto not kicking him out and taking him to – he shivered – the _vet _instead… The things they would do to him at that place would scar him for life!

Warm lips slowly pressed against Sasuke's wet nose and everything seemed to freeze.

The Uchiha snapped his eyes shut as if waiting for something to explode, but the only thing close to exploding was his very rapid heart drumming in his chest. Why did he have to be a dog right now of all times?

Visions of being able to kiss Naruto back flooded his reality as he licked Naruto's lips in long, slow movements of the tongue. The familiar taste of ramen sent his tongue to pull away. He would eat ramen, yes, but wasn't too fond of the kind that Naruto would eat.

-"You should really take a break from that crap, Naruto."-

The blonde giggled to the doggy kisses he had received and pulled Sasuke to lay down under the blankets with him and curled his body around the dog's. Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke's neck and caressed the back of the Uchiha's neck with the side of his cheek.

A chill ran down Sasuke's spine at this contact.

_You better be glad that I'm a dog, Naruto; otherwise I would show no mercy to you for all of this!_

"Goodnight…" Naruto practically yawned the line to his dog. Never before had he spoken it to someone else and he smiled to himself, slowly closing his eyes to drift off to sleep.

Sasuke paused in thought. How long had it been since he had been told that? It had been a while, but felt good to hear again…

-"Goodnight… Naruto…"-

The Uchiha let his drowsy eyes close as he pushed up against Naruto's very warm body to keep himself comfortable.

* * *

**(1) I don't know about any of you readers, but I know of someone that wears no clothes when they get home. It's a very... interesting thing... O.o**

**Hmm... so this was a fluffy chapy. I don't know why, but I always seem to write fluffy things... oh well, fluff is cute, so I can be forgiven. Right?**

**This chapy isn't all too interesting in my mind - other than the kiss! - but I think that the chapys after this one are a little more interesting in a sense. Sorry if Sasuke seems a little... already into Naruto (and not meaning it in a perverse way!) :smacks self: I wanted to write a story of the two where Sasuke already likes Naruto, thus he likes Naruto already and is trying as hard as he can not to do anything while being a dog (thank the lord, because I hate animal/human pairings! I HAVE seen it! It creeps me out a bit! Check out Mans Best Friend if you're curious! It's a manga...) :shivers:**

**I love you all and thanks for the comments! They motivate me to try and do a good job!**

**Forever the BakaNekoSan :3**


	4. Meet Naruto's Pet

**Okies. I've got this chapy done! Nya! I spent a little more time writing this one than I did the last one! Not much humor or fluff in this one, so forgive! The events in this chapy needed to happen! Believe me... If you look closely, there's one part that's going to be very significant later on.**

**As for what Sasuke looks like... well, in my mind he's a mutt, but you readers can picture him however you want! His appearance really has no meaning, so he can be whatever type of dog (as long as it fits the size).**

**Warning: There really isn't much that happens in this one that needs a warning. I'll go ahead and say the OOC-ness. So, with this done, here's the chapy:**

**Meet Naruto's Pet**

Sasuke knew it was morning. The annoying chirping of birds outside had driven him from the nice coma-like sleep he had been in. Deciding to ignore the noisy balls of feathers, he turned to face the blonde – unknowing was he that the male was awake and gazing at him affectionately.

"Oi," whispered a sweet voice into Sasuke's ear and it flinched slightly, but ignored the blonde, "wake up! It's our first morning together!"

This hurried whisper tickled Sasuke's ear so much that he brought up a lazy and unwilling paw to brush across the dog ear on top of his head; it twitched in discomfort to having air rush into it.

Letting it set in as to what Naruto said, the dog groaned noisily. Did their first morning have to be so early? There was only a little bit of light shining through Naruto's window, meaning the sun wasn't even fully up yet! Showing his displeasure to this idea, Sasuke rolled back over to face away from the male, sealing his eyes shut once again.

A pair of hands stealthily crept up on Sasuke's stomach, fingers lightly rubbing against him in hopes of a reaction. The dog's eyes snapped open and its body squirmed left and right to get away until he somehow found that he had rolled right up against Naruto's chest.

He looked up into Naruto's grinning face; the male's arms linked themselves around Sasuke and cuddled him as he sang, "Good morning!" not understanding that his pet wasn't one for mornings.

The Uchiha glowered at Naruto. Not only did he hate waking up early, but waking up to such exuberance seemed to drain him of energy. Again, he used his paws to push away from Naruto and took shelter under the covers to hopefully get more sleep.

Sleep was no longer an option, however. The blonde pouted upon seeing his dog shove him away and crawl under the blankets, probably thinking that this would prove to be some form of protective barrier to him. Naruto was about to show him who he was dealing with!

Sasuke was peaceful for about, five seconds before he felt something heavy fall on top of him. It was no surprise to him in finding that it was Naruto that had caused him to spring out from under the covers; a big mistake on his part since Naruto was in a playful mood.

He latched onto the dog and forced him on his back, holding the poor animal as it writhed under him. "So," he lowered his hand to Sasuke's stomach, continuously stroking it and watched as the dog whimpered, frozen as he was, "this is sort of your… _weak spot_, am I right?" and continued to caress the spot, humored that this seemed to calm his dog down, and yet, send him into a frenzy of whimpers.

_I can't stand this any more!!!_

The Uchiha lurched at Naruto, forgetting for a moment that he was in a dog's body and slipped off the bed in humiliation.

A chorus of giggles was heard and Sasuke shakily stood up, feeling that all his limbs were stiff and hard to use.

-"Damn you, Naruto!"-

This only sounded like a growl to human ears, so Naruto continued laughing and it only furthered Sasuke's irritation that he couldn't talk. Never before was he one to hold a conversation with someone and now that he was forced into a dog's body where he no longer could talk he yearned for Naruto to hear everything on his mind right now!

All of this dog business was a stab to his pride and left him humiliated! As long as it was just Naruto to know of the existence of this dog then it would be ok. Maybe he would be kept inside for the rest of his dog days.

Still fighting back the fit of giggles, Naruto spoke freely to his dog once again, "Guess what we're going to do today, boy!" and smiled childishly as he pulled himself to rest his elbows on the edge of the bed to better see his dog.

Sasuke gave Naruto the 'you've-got-to-be-kidding-me' look. Like a dog would be able to give an understandable response! But thinking about the situation he was in, he hopefully spoke in his dog tongue, -"We're going to leave the dog alone for the day and not mess with him in the slightest."-

His blonde friend jumped up on his knees, still looking down at the dog and excitedly answered, "I'm going to show everyone around here that you're my pet!"

The dog fell over on his side. Didn't he just hope for no one else to realize his existence? So much for that since Naruto was against doing what he wanted.

-

Sasuke didn't even fight against Naruto this time and willingly walked alongside of his companion in silence. He followed Naruto wherever he went – the Uchiha winced – like a good little doggy.

When Naruto had said 'I'm going to show everyone,' he meant _everyone_!

First was their old sensei, Iruka, who looked nervously at Sasuke when Naruto claimed ownership of him. The man showed concern for the blonde, saying that Sasuke could have rabies or some form of disease if Naruto had picked him off the streets and offered to get a new dog to replace Sasuke.

Naruto had jumped to his dog's defense, saying that he already made a bond with him and no other dog could take his place.

The tail protruding from Sasuke's rump wagged happily to the defense Naruto offered and Iruka sighed, knowing there was no way of swaying the male.

Then there was Sakura to deal with, shooting Sasuke's bliss down. He saw enough of the female in his human form! Hopefully Naruto wouldn't make this kind of trip a habit! He glared at Naruto and saw the wide grin on the male's face.

_Don't tell me he's still all soft for __**her**!_

The pink-haired female showed little interest in 'Naruto's dog' and instead worried herself with one topic.

"You haven't seen Sasuke have you?"

_Figures… _thought the dog, somehow knowing that he, Sasuke, would be brought up along the way.

Naruto gave off a troubled aura – at least to the Uchiha, now able to sense some feelings from people – and folded his arms, spouting a 'no' in a disgruntled manner.

The dog sitting on the ground between the two mentally smirked. A recollection of events poured into his thinking process at this mood Naruto was giving to the subject of Sasuke. Not only a couple days before his transformation, Sasuke had made a dent in Naruto's ego by calling him a girl. At the time Naruto was attempting to word something to Sasuke, but was being slow and fidgety, making him appear feminine, so Sasuke decided to take it upon himself to tease the blonde about it. He really hadn't expected the guy to react so sensitively though and never heard what it was Naruto wanted to tell him since the male had stormed off.

It was obvious that Naruto was still sore over the whole ordeal.

_Quit whining so much over it, dobe. That only proves that you act like a girl._

After a quick good-bye to Sakura – to Sasuke's relief – Naruto "introduced" his new dog to every single one of his friends, receiving close to the same reaction Iruka had, excluding Hinata, whom patted Sasuke's head and said he was a cute dog. Sasuke almost snarled at this, but Naruto agreed with her, humiliating him even more than he already was. Sasuke wasn't "cute!"

As he angrily tossed this thought around in his head he watched Hinata shyly blush and try to invite Naruto into her house for "tea" she said. Sasuke didn't know much about Hinata, but wasn't about to let her take Naruto's attention away from him and quickly pawed at the blonde's leg, whimpering sadly. He had apparently mastered the puppy-dog stare, not that he liked it since Naruto would go all mushy and say how "_adorable_" he was, but was thankful that it would grab the blonde's attention.

"Sorry, Hinata. Maybe another time!"

Sasuke felt a twinge of guilt when he felt the Hyuga's aura grow sorrowful and yet she still smiled to Naruto, saying that she understood and bid the two of them farewell.

_She likes Naruto… I could feel it, but… she doesn't __**show **__the way she feels! How is she supposed to-?_

This was hypocritical of him, so he decided to stop while he was ahead.

After a couple more visits, Sasuke grew weary of all the weird looks he received. Obviously everyone thought he had a disease and told Naruto there thoughts on it.

Nothing that his friends said seemed to bring the blonde down though, he and the dog walked away from Shikamaru's house and Naruto whispered down to Sasuke, "I don't care what they think! You're _mine _and no one else's, so it doesn't matter what they say!"

The dog couldn't help but feel heated at the words 'you're mine and no one else's,' and mentally blushed. He was doing that a lot lately… Then again, Naruto was… special to him; always had been, always will. The feelings he had for the blonde did nothing but grow as he spent time with him.

_Even though I have to be stuck in a damn __**dog's **__body!_

His tail wagged left and right when Kakashi's house caught his eye and went into a thinking process of somehow revealing his true identity to their sensei and hopefully be transformed back into his original form!

Only problem was that the masked man wasn't home.

_Damn it! Why does it have to be the one time he could be useful that he's not here?!_

Continuing their little journey, Naruto spoke happily to the dog, saying that they were nearly done; only this house then one more. Sasuke was getting tired in his new body and was trying to decide if going to two more houses was a good or bad thing.

That's when a familiar voice rang out to the two of them upon arriving at the next house, "Hey, Naruto!"

_Great, _thought the raven colored dog when he was able to recognize the voice being Kiba's, _a place full of dogs…_

"Hey, Kiba!" Naruto quickly went on to do just as he had for everyone else, "This is my new pet!"

The other male looked down at Sasuke, listening to Naruto's tale of how he found Sasuke and not once did Kiba give the dog a strange look. He bent down and patted Sasuke on the head and seemed to be examining his entire body until Naruto was finished with the explanation.

"Looks like he's in good health for a dog you found as a stray. No wounds on him, no signs of hunger, doesn't look to be sick…"

Naruto was happy with this comment. "Glad _someone _doesn't think he's diseased!"

Kiba didn't divert his attention away from Sasuke as he asked, "What's his name?"

There was a pause.

The male and Sasuke turned their heads to Naruto, who looked like he was struggling with a test question.

Sasuke wasn't surprised, what with Naruto calling him mutt, dog, and boy he had assumed that the blonde hadn't given a single thought to naming him. No one else seemed to care enough to ask Naruto this question, so he never had to think about it.

This no longer held Sasuke's attention when he heard a voice from behind him shout, "S-SASUKE?!"

The hair on the back of the Uchiha's neck stood up. The two males in front of him gave surprised looks as they eyed the area behind Sasuke. Someone knew his true identity, how they came to find this out was a mystery itself, but that wasn't the problem! They just decided to bring it to everyone's attention that they knew who he was!

* * *

**Ok, horrible way to end, I know, but I'm curious to know who everyone would think of. Any guesses? I just want to know if it's easy to tell who it would be or not. Being me, I would never figure it out, but I'm the writer, so of course I know who it is! So, if you want to guess, go ahead! If you get it right, well, I can dedicate the next chapy to you! That's really the only thing I can do. **

**I hope this is going well. I love the later happenings and can't wait to get to them. _That's _when everything gets interesting for me! Nya! **

**I thank my reviewers very much! If it weren't for you then I probably wouldn't be near as motivated to write these things! Much love!**

**Forever the BakaNekoSan :3**


	5. Pet Name

**Wow. It's been an extremely long time since I've updated. (or at least it feels that way) Anywho. Gomen for the wait! I wanted to write this out probably even more than most of you wanted to read it, but the horrible place that tortured me day in and day out would not allow me any time to write! Name of the evil place: SCHOOL! I detest it...**

**This chapy is dedicated to: Ninjagirl, xREWIND, and TheShyKunoichi! **

**Warning: I think there is no such thing for this chapy! Just cutesy-ness/humor. Well, that's the way I view it, but everyone's different.**

**Now, since you've all waited for this for a while I guess I can say "Here's chapy Five!"**

**Pet Name**

"S-SASUKE?!"

Whoever it was that took it upon themselves to reveal that this medium-sized, raven-haired _dog _was none other than Uchiha Sasuke should have done the humane thing and shot him while they were at it. Kiba was now watching Sasuke, eyes wide and mouth slightly parted; a look of complete bafflement. Naruto, on the other hand, blinked a couple times and stared blankly at the area behind Sasuke where the person had screeched his name; he was obviously confused as well.

_That's it! I am going to __**kill **__whoever it was that found out and told! Who the hell is it?! And how the hell could they tell it's me?!_

Sasuke whipped around only to find someone that wasn't even on his list of people that would dare do this to him. Someone that-

-"Y-Y-Y-You're-!"-

-wasn't even a person.

-"You're… Kiba's _dog_…!"-

There stood the fairly large animal, wagging its tail back and fourth at the sight of the Uchiha being in doggy form. He must have been very excited to see Sasuke like this.

Now, Sasuke was rarely one to be shocked by things that popped up out of nowhere like this dog did – though he was Kiba's dog, so he didn't exactly pop up out of nowhere – but this nearly made his heart stop. Never before did a dog – that normally _didn't _talk – start speaking a language that Sasuke could comprehend.

-"The name's Akamaru."- the dog sounded a little annoyed that Sasuke hadn't used his name when speaking to him, but continued with wagging his tail nonetheless. -"So you _are _Sasuke in that case!"-

The ends of the dog's lips curved upwards into a little doggy smile, but Sasuke was still in the process of recovering from the sudden shock. He looked over his shoulder and saw Kiba, now up on his feet, watching the two as if in amusement.

_Shit! Kiba can understand dogs and I just blew my cover by __**talking**__! Damn it!_

But the male didn't appear to be planning anything against Sasuke and turned to Naruto, pushing the question of a pet name on the blonde again.

_Bastard… He just wants to see what Naruto will call me since I have no say in it…_

-"Hey, hey, hey!"- Akamaru quickly tried to get Sasuke's attention and acted as if he were about to pounce on the raven-haired dog, raising his front paws and lurched towards Sasuke, but pawed at the ground just in front of him instead.

Being new to the concept of having a dog communicate with him as if they were best buds, Sasuke took a couple steps back. "What?" He wasn't too trusting of the dog yet and it showed in the suspicious tone he took.

This didn't seem to bother Akamaru at all; his eyes were wide and sparkled as his voice dripped with excitement, "Am I the only one that knows?!" he then gave a quick glance to Kiba, "Well… other than Kiba?!"

The tone Akamaru used exhausted Sasuke. It reminded him of the hyper pitch that Naruto would use when overjoyed by someone offering to buy him ramen for no reason. He sighed heavily and nodded, a feeling of defeat clung to him at the thought of having someone discover his new identity, that being Naruto's… _dog_.

A shiver ran up his spine.

-"And let me guess! Naruto's your _master_ right?!"-

This time more than just a shiver ran up Sasuke's spine. He gave a very noticeable jump at the word "master" and heard Kiba sniggering behind him. The male was obviously eavesdropping in on their conversation and found this _funny_!

Sasuke then heard the blonde male ask Kiba why he was acting strange and must have gotten an inaudible answer from Kiba because it was silent after that.

_At least he isn't saying anything…_

If Naruto had to find out that Sasuke was this stray dog, he would rather tell Naruto himself and not have anyone else spill it. It was none of their business, so they should leave the matter alone!

The Uchiha was able to find his voice now – feeling as though his ability to speak had broken at Akamaru's suggestion.

-"_He _will _never _be my '_**master**_'!!!"-

Just giving thought to Naruto dominating over him gave Sasuke bad vibes. He didn't quite realize that Akamaru wasn't meaning for it to sound like a dominant title though.

The large dog tilted his head slightly to the Uchiha's response.

-"But, you were following him around, right…?"- His voice trailed off. Something had obviously clicked inside of his little doggy mind, -"Oh! I get it! You're like me and don't consider your owner to be a master!"-

The raven dog flinched at the word "owner," it being almost as bad as "master." Why did Akamaru have to use words that suggested that he belonged to Naruto?! He mentally blushed at this thought and didn't want to know how Kiba was taking all of this. Sasuke hoped that maybe the male was so wrapped up in Naruto's thinking process that he wasn't paying them any attention, but the muffled sniggering behind him told a different story.

Before Sasuke was able to respond to Akamaru, the dog cut in.

-"You love Naruto very much, don't you?!"-

This dog had to be the only, well, _dog_ Sasuke knew that was this blunt. His body tightened up, but he remained silent. He didn't want to admit it to a _dog _that he had feelings for Naruto, plus there was the possibility that Kiba might overhear him if he did. Sasuke squirmed uncomfortably at the question, but Akamaru – being a dog – excitedly went on, not realizing the Uchiha's discomfort.

-"It's like Kiba and I! We have more than just owner and pet rela-"- Akamaru paused, -"Are you ok, Sasuke? Your mood just changed rather fast…"-

_Shit. He can sense that stupid mood thing… _

Sasuke remained silent.

Akamaru wanted to understand why Sasuke was feeling different so suddenly and was about to start asking another load of questions, but they were interrupted.

"Oi, Bun-bun!"

The two dogs turned their attention towards Naruto and gave him a questioning look.

Kiba appeared to be struggling to hold back a fit of laughter, which did _not _give Sasuke a good feeling. He didn't quite understand what was going on at the moment.

Naruto happily squatted down and stared directly at Sasuke, "Bun-bun, come here!" and patted his knees to show that 'here' was the area in front of him.

_Don't tell me that… this is my…!_

The larger white dog wagged his tail excitedly and spoke to Sasuke since he obviously didn't get this. -"He's talking to you!"-

Sasuke twitched.

-"The hell he is."-

For Naruto's sake, he _better _not be talking to Sasuke! Naruto _did _like bunnies, but still! This was _Naruto_! Even _he_ could think of something a little better than _that_! The blonde was probably just talking to another one of Kiba's dogs somewhere behind him and decided to call to it.

-"No-no! That's what he's _named __**you**_!"- Akamaru seemed overjoyed by this, -"He's showing endearment for you by giving you that name! Isn't this great?!"-

Bun-bun.

That.

_**That **_was going to be Sasuke's pet name?! And how the hell was it _**endearment**_?!

As if to answer his mental question, Naruto climbed to his feet and happily bounced to Sasuke's side.

"Your new name is 'Bun-bun!' You can understand that, right?" Naruto got to his knees and hugged around Sasuke's neck.

-"I'm going to kill you for this, Naruto…"-

This came out as a pitiful sounding growl. The torment he'd go through having to be called that horrid thing that shouldn't even be considered a 'name!'

Kiba had given up trying to hold back the humor in this and held onto his stomach as he laughed at Sasuke's misfortune.

-"I'm in Hell. That's what's happened. That jutsu sent me to Hell. It was the only way I could have escaped from that annoying-" Sasuke continued mumbling everything to himself and Akamaru gave him a worried look.

-"But he's come up with this name especially for you…"-

The raven-haired dog whipped his head around to this, finding this to be something to react to.

-"_BUN-BUN_?! What does he think I am a rabbit?! And it-it-"-

It really shot Sasuke's pride down.

-"But he gave you a name!"-

What the hell was this dog talking about?! Why did any of this matter?! So what if Naruto gave Sasuke a name?! It was a _stupid _name!

The Uchiha scowled.

-"And _why _is this so important?!"-

It was silent for a moment. Sasuke became a little uncomfortable with Naruto still nuzzling his neck and looked back at Akamaru to see why he wasn't responding. He seemed to be terribly confused.

-"It shows that you truly belong to Naruto now… You just need a collar and you'll be set! I don't wear a collar but-"-

That did it.

The hold that Naruto had on Sasuke would have appeared to burn him he pulled away so quickly from the blonde. The mental images he was receiving did not sit well with him. He would _not _be wearing a collar anytime soon! And collars meant something else when put on a person, that being Sasuke's true form.

Pulling away from Naruto obviously hurt his feelings. His expression became mournful.

"Why do you have to be mean to me, Bun-bun…?"

Naruto gave Sasuke a look that could have broken an emotionless person down to a pathetic state that would cause them to hug Naruto in hopes that it would make him happy again.

_Damn it, Naruto! Don't look at me like that!_

Even though Sasuke knew it was an act, he couldn't take this.

The dog attempted to look at something else, but found his eyes back on Naruto, his sad expression ate Sasuke up. Naurto looked – Sasuke felt a heated blush – _cute_! If it were just the two of them then Sasuke would have done his best to give Naruto a doggy hug, but since they had _unwanted _company that knew who Sasuke was he decided to remain sitting on the ground as he was, watching Naruto all the while.

Kiba – now over his laughing fit – stood by the blonde and smirked to the dog. He didn't say anything, but Sasuke knew that he was thinking 'you owe me for not saying anything!'

"If I was given the name 'Bun-bun' I wouldn't be nice to you either."

This killed the adorable expression on Naruto's face, turning it into a grimace and he turned to the other male. "Hey, he's _my _dog, so I can name him anything I want! And I happen to like the name!"

Sasuke watched Naruto yell at Kiba for laughing, the blonde not able to understand what was so funny. Sasuke was rather happy that Naruto didn't understand and that Kiba refused to tell him though.

It didn't take long before Naruto got fed up with Kiba's peculiar behavior and decided that it was time for him and 'Bun-bun' to leave.

Sasuke walked by Naruto's side down the streets of Konoha and gave his – as Akamaru had put it – "master" a look that showed he was tired. Tired of meeting people he already knew and didn't really care to be reintroduced to.

"This will be the last stop! I promise!"

The raven-haired dog felt his tail wag at this news. Finally! One more person and they would be done with all of this running around and he could go to bed! It was very comfortable snuggling against Naruto in the night. Both of their bodies were very warm and soft and hearing Naruto slowly inhale and exhale relaxed the Uchiha into such a sweet slumber to the point that if anyone dared to wake him, the consequences would be murderous. This thought made the last house seem very unimportant and Sasuke felt that they should just forget about whoever it was and go back to Naruto's house to sleep!

When they came in sight of the house Sasuke's tail slowed to a halt. He recognized the place all too well and felt a little distant and disappointed when he came to an understanding of who they were visiting.

Uchiha Sasuke.

* * *

**Yay! BakaNekoSan has finished chapy five! Would this be considered a cliffy? Not as much as last chapy in any case, but it's some form of a cliffy! **

**So, the name "Bun-bun." You could not imagine how long it took for me to decide on this name! I asked every single one of my friends for help on this one day, saying that I needed a cute name that would be degrading to someone such as Sasuke and I got many good answers, but this one really hit me! My friend, Mika-san, (she is a real person that goes by this title amongst her friends in the real world) suggested "Bun-bun" because my group of friends adore Hunny-sempai from Host Club and his stuffed bunny, Bun-bun! I'M NOT SUGGESTING THAT OHSHC IS MINE IN ANY WAY! Ok, just making sure that I don't get sued for anything because that would make BakaNekoSan very sad. Anyways... I loved the idea, but if you don't like it then you can think of another name to call him in your head whenever he's called "Bun-bun."**

**For those of you who may not understand why I dedicated this chapy to people, it's because they guessed who it was that was calling to Sasuke. To those people listed Good Job! You got a chapy dedicated to you! If I somehow managed to forget someone (which I probably did) that guessed right then PM me to tell me and I'll fix it!**

**Hm... is there anything else that I need to talk about for this chapy? If so, PM me because I can't think of anything and I'm feeling woozy from all the waking up early-ness so I can't think straight...**

**I love all of my reviewers and I'm terribly sorry for the wait. The chances of the update times being short is very slim, so you'll have to deal with it for a while. Gomen.**

**Forever the BakaNekoSan :3**


	6. Where's Sasuke?

**Wow, it feels like it's been forever! Gomen for not updating in such a long time and gomen to those who read Permanent Pigtails and want me to update on that one! It might be a long while before I ever get around to updating it because I decided that I will make an outline of it as well so I'll have more of an understanding of where it's going!**

**Warning: (this chapy actually has a real one!) Another suggestion of uke Sasuke, but that's only because I like messing with his head and torturing him! An OOC Naruto at one point, and it's very obvious... hm... oh, and the LIME-NESS! That's what I call it anyways. It's underlined because I don't want anyone who doesn't like stuff like that to try and flame me saying that I didn't warn them, well I have! Nya!**

**I'd like to dedicate this chapy to my fanfiction buddy: SasuNaru FanXDDD! **

**Yay! I hope this chapy is enjoyable! It's a little on the serious side, but what fun is a story if it doesn't have serious moments?**

**Where's Sasuke?**

Uchiha Sasuke gazed on at the very familiar house that was his own. What was he supposed to do? He knew that he wasn't home because he was _right there_! Could this somehow create suspicion on Naruto's part if he found out that Sasuke wasn't there?

This didn't seem to worry him too much since his thoughts ran in the direction of _why_. Why would Naruto want to show Sasuke his _pet_? Sasuke had no interest in animals so why would he care about some mutt that Naruto found on the streets?

_Just Naruto being an idiot again I suppose…_

The dog continued thinking about why Naruto would want to do this. He had been upset with the Uchiha after all when he had called him a girl so… While he was busy with these thoughts, Naruto started pounding on the door to Sasuke's house.

Nothing.

Again Naruto beat the door only to receive silence again. This made Sasuke feel a little disheartened and he tried to communicate with the blonde even though he knew human ears were deaf to him, -"I'm right here, dobe!"- and it came out as a pitiful bark.

Naruto seemed to be in a pensive state and ignored his dog.

"Sakura did say that she hadn't seen him… but where could he be…?"

Onyx eyes rolled in the dog's head.

_Oh, Sasuke __**just **__disappeared and a dog suddenly appeared! Put two and two together, dobe!_

Sasuke mentally slapped his head for thinking of something so childish and stupid. Who would think of something like that?! Naruto wasn't so thick to think of something like that! Well, in this situation, he wasn't _smart_ enough to think of something like that.

"I… hope he didn't leave again…"

The Uchiha's heart skipped a beat. Naruto sounded so sad… BUT WHAT POSSESSED HIM TO THINK THAT SASUKE WOULD LEAVE AGAIN?! Was Sasuke really that untrustworthy?

He watched Naruto lean against the door and slowly slide down its frame to a sitting position. The blonde wrapped his arms around his knees and pushed his forehead against them. This made Sasuke feel a little depressed again. Naruto never showed this side of himself to anyone and seeing it like this…

-"Um… is it really that upsetting to you to think about me leaving again?"- Sasuke took a couple steps towards the blonde and nudged one of Naruto's hands with his snout to try and get his attention, -"I knew you were troubled by it at first, but…"-

Talking to Naruto was really stupid of Sasuke. He might as well be talking to the wind passing by because Naruto really didn't care about a dog speaking its dog language to him since he couldn't understand it. The blonde didn't even acknowledge the little nudge that Sasuke had made.

"That bastard…" spoke the male in a quiet voice that Sasuke wouldn't have been able to hear if it weren't for the fact that he had a strong sense of hearing as a dog.

-"There's no need in calling me names. I'm right here, plus when I came back I told you that I was-"-

Naruto removed his head from the previous position and sat his chin on top of his knees, the normal bright and cheerful gleam in his eyes now faded from them. The look shocked Sasuke and he removed his gaze from the blonde so he wouldn't have to see this pitiful sight.

-"Geez Naruto… you don't even know for sure if I'm gone and you already-"-

It hit him now. When Sasuke had left before when going to Orochimaru… he didn't even attempt to talk with anyone, much less Naruto. He had left without a single word to Naruto. Did this really hurt the male that much? Sasuke had never given it thought and he couldn't help but feel guilty now…

-"But I shouldn't feel guilty! I haven't left! I haven't even _thought _about leaving! All I did was that _stupid _jutsu, so this is really Kakashi's fault; not mine! Naruto? Naruto?!"-

The dog immediately started pawing at the blonde's knees to get his attention since a nudge from the snout obviously wouldn't do a thing.

-"Do-you-_UNDERSTAND_-me-Naruto?!"-

Naruto took his concentration away from Sasuke's whereabouts for the moment since he realized that he wasn't being a good pet owner by ignoring his dog.

"What's that? You ready to go home, Bun-bun?" Naruto smiled to the dog though his depressed mood still lingered around him.

Sasuke let out a heavy sigh, feeling very annoyed that no one could understand him – well, other than Kiba and Akamaru, but they weren't important! Sasuke wanted _Naruto _to understand him!

-"No, you _don't _understand me; yes, I _want_ to go home and AGH! I _HATE_ THAT NAME!!! Stop calling me by that stupid title! You _do _know that I'm a _guy_ _**dog**_, _don't you_?!"-

Naruto slowly climbed to his feet and turned back towards Sasuke's house, looking hopeful that maybe Sasuke was there, but possibly in a deep sleep that being why he didn't answer, so he tried knocking on the door again.

No answer.

"Well… I guess we can try tomorrow… I don't have any missions for a while so… Ah! That's it!"

The dog looked to the male questioningly.

-"Hm? What's it?"-

There was a huge grin plastered on Naruto's face and the aura around him grew blissful once again as he spoke to the Uchiha cheerfully, "I bet he went on a mission and _that's _why he's not home!"

_This dobe… is hopeless…_

Sasuke sighed again as the two of them headed back to Naruto's house to hopefully go to bed now.

-

"I don't know why I even bother with the bastard! All he does is pick on me and when he isn't doing that we aren't even talking! I wonder what makes us friends…?" the blonde grew very thoughtful at this line.

The dog growled, -"I'm beginning to wonder if you ever shut up…"-

From the moment they left Sasuke's house all Naruto did was talk about Sasuke. It reminded him of a certain pink-haired female and couldn't take anymore. At least Sakura said _good_ things about him; all Naruto did was say how much he despised the Uchiha for being mean to him, making the both of them realize how much they hurt because of the other one. Sasuke, because Naruto never seemed interested when around him and now he was saying how much he hated him; Naruto, because Sasuke was never nice to him and always picked on him.

There was a long pause in Naruto's tirade, concerning the Uchiha so he rolled over to face the blonde boy's bed. Naruto's eyes were closed and he breathed very steadily and heavily. He must have made himself drowsy with all of his muttering about how big of a jerk Sasuke was and fell asleep.

Very slowly, Sasuke got up on all fours and jumped up on Naruto's bed, sitting beside the tired male as he slept.

-"You know, you're very hurtful, Naruto…"- Sasuke was silent for a moment to give thought to what he was going to say now since he had a lot on his mind that he wanted to get out. -"I'd never tell you this – well, at least not right now if I were in human form – but since you can't understand me, I might as well say it…"- he hesitantly continued, feeling as if Naruto would somehow be able to comprehend what he was about to say, -"I've always considered you to be very precious to me. I told you that a long time ago, but I said 'as comrades,' instead of telling the truth about how I really felt…"-

The Uchiha felt his face grow hot.

-"So… the point to all of this is… I really like you, Naruto… a _lot_!"-

With that, Sasuke gave Naruto's cheek a quick lick and bolted under the blankets in embarrassment to what he just revealed and did to Naruto though the blonde was unaware of anything that had happened since he was fast asleep.

-

"Hey… wake up!"

Sasuke felt a hand on his shoulder shake him lightly and shifted moodily at both the command and the movement; he didn't like getting up at an early hour such as this and groaned, "Leave me alone, dobe. I want more sleep…"

The hand that had recently shook Sasuke crept down Sasuke's body until it reached his stomach, slowly massaging it, making the Uchiha's eyes snap open and he sat up to face Naruto.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU-"

It was at this point that Sasuke found that something wasn't quite right… Everything was colorful once more… and it felt a little cool compared to how it recently had been.

The Uchiha looked down at his bare body only covered by a sheet from Naruto's bed, but the difference was that it was no longer the dog's body… but his own!!!

_Wha-wha-wha-WHAT?! HOW THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN?! _

He turned his attention to Naruto, who was sitting right beside him, and found that there was nothing covering him but his boxers!

_WASN'T HE WEARING __**CLOTHES **__LAST NIGHT?! _

The unnerving silence was broken by Naruto slowly asking the Uchiha, "So… you were the dog all along, huh, Sasuke?"

This made Sasuke feel _very _awkward. He couldn't figure out how any of this had happened. Did he somehow transform back or does the jutsu just wear off? And _why _was Naruto only in his boxers?! The look that Naruto gave Sasuke wasn't very comforting either… he kept eyeing Sasuke's body in a manner that was not Naruto…

"Yeah…" the raven-haired male spoke halfheartedly still trying to piece everything together, ignoring the looks he was receiving in hopes they would stop.

Naruto directed his attention back to Sasuke's eyes. "Then that means you did it all on purpose."

Sasuke blinked, "Huh? I did all of what on purpose?" he couldn't remember anything in particular that he had done on 'purpose.'

A sly smirk added to the strange look that Naruto had… another thing that was very unlike Naruto. It gave Sasuke a creepy feeling and he glared at the other male. He found Naruto's body slowly moving closer to his, but didn't move because of his curiosity. The blonde leaned far enough to whisper into Sasuke's ear, "I heard everything you said last night."

The room felt very icy to Sasuke now that he understood what Naruto was talking about, but _how _was Naruto able to understand what Sasuke said?! The Uchiha played it off as if it were nothing, shrugging as he said, "Yeah, so what of-WHA-!"

Naruto had taken advantage over the hesitant state Sasuke was in and had pinned the Uchiha down on the bed, wrists in each hand.

_What… is Naruto doing…? Is it possible that he feels the same…?_

The blonde straddled Sasuke's bare hips and pressed them into each other, grinding hardly against Sasuke.

Sasuke grit his teeth as the friction between them grew very hot and pleasing to him, but he could only think of one thing: _Naruto is __**not **__the dominant one here!!! He should __**not **__take the top!!! _

But regardless of this, Sasuke made no attempt to flip the positions over. He did, however, grow antsy when Naruto pulled his hips away from him and thought of possibly exchanging places, but was again curious as to what Naruto was going to do.

Naruto released one of Sasuke's wrists to cup the Uchiha's face with it, forcing their faces to meet in a kiss. It took no time at all for Sasuke to react to this and reached behind Naruto's head with his free hand to pull him deeper into the kiss. Naruto didn't seem to be interested in giving Sasuke what he wanted and pulled away before the kiss became intimate so he could tease Sasuke.

"Don't forget, Sasuke… you're my_ pet_."

Becoming aggravated by Naruto continuously pulling away from him, Sasuke snapped back, "What does _that _mean?!"

The blonde smiled and traced a line down Sasuke's neck very slowly with two fingers until they met with something at the base. Sasuke hadn't felt whatever this was being on him and snatched at the object with his free hand.

It was a collar.

_WHEN DID I GET A COLLAR?!_

He felt a cold sweat run down his face when feeling this object wrapped around his neck. Had Naruto put it on him when he was asleep?!

"You remember now, don't you? I was afraid you had forgotten…"

The very mischievous Naruto continued to trace his fingers down past Sasuke's collar, feeling the Uchiha tense when he neared the lower portion of his body. When he reached Sasuke's stomach he paused and looked into Sasuke's eyes.

"Remember how much you liked being touched there? You would always squirm every time I touched you."

His hand was like fire to Sasuke's skin as he roughly massaged the area. The blonde wanted this to drive Sasuke insane and pulled his other hand from holding Sasuke's wrist to make the massage complete, his fingers hitting all the right spots that made the Uchiha awkward and horny. He smiled when Sasuke's hands grabbed a hold of his waist. The raven-haired male's breathing grew heavy and rapid at his bare skin being touched by Naruto with great vigor compared to before.

"Ngh! Nn-Naruto…!"

Sasuke exhaled heavily and was seriously about to flip the blonde over to start screwing him if he didn't stop. Sasuke could only take so much and this was over the top! His mind became clouded by lust and couldn't think straight anymore.

The blonde ignored Sasuke's torment and continued torturing him with his hot touch.

"But… I recall you liked being touched here," Naruto stopped caressing Sasuke's stomach and slowly lowered his hands to the intimate area on Sasuke, making sure not to touch him just to drive him to insanity, "even more!"

Seeing the Uchiha about to make a move of his own, Naruto seized his hard-on with both hands, not wanting to lose his position being on top, and began stroking him hardly, causing Sasuke to breathe harshly between clenched teeth as he couldn't help but buck up into Naruto. He wanted more than touching and Naruto was taking everything so slow. It was driving him crazy! Sasuke was about to take everything in his hands!

"Neh, Sasuke," Naruto whispered in the Uchiha's ear as he hesitantly let go of Sasuke's cock to grab onto the other's hands and pulled them to his boxer's waistline, suggesting for him to take them off, "I'll let you."

Sasuke felt something within him become animal-like as he ripped the clothing from Naruto's body and sprang at him-

KER-THUMP

He jumped up in a panic, his heart racing wildly and he glanced in every direction to see what was going on to see that he had sprung to the floor, his body now in the form of a dog.

_It- it was just a dream…?!_

This left the raven-haired dog feeling uneasy. He had very erotic dreams without even realizing it… Why did he have a collar though? And why was _Naruto _playing the dominant of the two?! Apparently this horribly pathetic position he was in was getting to his head since Naruto truly _did _dominate over him while he was a dog.

Taking in the morning smells – that mainly consisted of Naruto – Sasuke found that the overpowering smell that _was _Naruto had vanished. He quickly turned to the bed and hopped up on it to see that there was no Naruto.

_Where did he go?_

Sasuke walked around the entire house and found no trace of Naruto; he even double-checked to be sure.

_Did he leave?!_

This was very startling! Sasuke would never have thought that Naruto would leave him without a word. Now it was his turn to see how it felt… and it felt horrible.

_He really left me… without bothering to take me with him or tell me that he was leaving…_

Sasuke knew that Naruto would be back, but something within him felt abandoned. He blamed the feelings on the dog part of him, not wanting to believe that he would truly feel this way just because Naruto left without telling him. It felt too obsessive for his liking.

A whimper was released from the back of his throat as he eyed the door, wishing that he had a way of getting out of the house so he could find Naruto and bite the hell out of him! He charged at the door and scratched at it with his claws only making a few marks after so long and felt declined to claw the door away. Naruto would not be very happy if he came back home to find his door having a gapping hole in his door.

With a moody growl, Sasuke went back to Naruto's bed and waited furiously for the door to open so he could attack Naruto.

-

"HEY! BUN-BUN! I'M HOME!!!"

The dog blinked his eyes open as his ears perked to Naruto's voice. He had waited so long for Naruto to return that he had fallen asleep! Naruto was really going to get it!

When the blonde entered his line of vision he growled. Naruto paused and looked worried. "Are you mad at me…? I didn't do anything that-oh! If it's because I left you while you were still asleep, well… you got mad when I woke you up yesterday, so I decided that I would let you sleep in today… I sorry, Bun-bun…"

How could Sasuke be mad at this?! If he was mad at all then it had to be at himself for thinking so selfishly about the matter when all Naruto was trying to do was give Sasuke some extra time to sleep.

To let Naruto know that he was in a better mood Sasuke wagged his tail back and forth. This made Naruto smile, but the dog sensed that something was wrong with him; his aura was sad again.

The blonde made his way to the bed sat beside his dog, rubbing the top of Sasuke's head while he explained why he was gone, "I found out that Sasuke really didn't go on a mission…"

_That _was why Naruto had left? This was starting to upset the Uchiha because his absence was upsetting Naruto! Couldn't he just be laid-back and not think about it for _one _day?!

"I… I want to try his house again. Maybe he's there!"

Onyx eyes met with azure ones as Sasuke sat up to glare once again at Naruto. He was taking this way too seriously! Then again, if Sasuke was in Naruto's position and Naruto had gone missing he would probably worry just as much, if not more.

"Aw, what's the matter?" Naruto twisted his arm around Sasuke's neck in a playful headlock and continuously rubbed his knuckles atop of his head, "You're not getting jealous because I'm looking for Sasuke, are you?!"

The dog sniffed at this remark.

-"It's hard to get jealous over _yourself_, dobe."-

Naruto giggled happily, his aura finally returning to its normal, cheerful state, as Sasuke pushed his paws against Naruto's chest to pull away from the headlock.

"You and I haven't really played with one another yet, so why don't we have some fun?!"

"_Play with one another?" "Have some fun?!" _

Everything reminded the poor Uchiha of his dream and he took a couple steps back. Naruto was an innocent figure in Sasuke's mind, but for some reason in his dream Naruto was anything _but _innocent! Hearing him cheerfully say these things and comparing them to how Naruto was in his dream made Sasuke twitch and feel uncomfortable. It was definite that Naruto would be the one with little dominance if they had a relationship, but _still_! The dream was giving Sasuke bad vibes and he was afraid that any 'playing' that Naruto did with Sasuke would cause him to get horny.

Naruto quickly pushed Sasuke on his back and tickled his stomach.

_Damn you for always going for that spot! You do it to torture me, don't you?! _

He struggled to get away from Naruto's hands, thankful that tickling wasn't a turn-on for him and was able to break away, but Naruto tackled him to the bed. This reminded Sasuke _way _too much of the dream and he felt very frantic to escaping, pushing against Naruto's body in attempt to get him off, but this only exhausted Sasuke even more and he got nowhere.

"You're so kawaii, Bun-bun!" squeaked the blonde in a giddy voice that was disgustingly cute. This didn't drive Sasuke's attention away from the fact that he had been called _that __**name**_ again, however!

-"DAMN THAT NAME TO HELL! I HATE IT! I SWEAR NARUTO! WHEN I BECOME A HUMAN AGAIN, I'M GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS FOR CALLING ME THAT!!!"-

Naruto pulled some of his weight off of Sasuke. He looked into his onyx eyes and froze where he was. His expression became very serious and he stared directly into Sasuke's eyes for a moment.

"You… have the same eyes as Sasuke…"

Again, Sasuke was tired of hearing about himself! He had the same eyes as "Sasuke" because he _was _Sasuke! He knew this, but Naruto _didn't_ and that was what bugged him!

-"I swear, you're such a pain! Don't think about me so much if it's going to hurt you!"-

Without realizing what he was doing, Sasuke continuously licked Naruto's face and stopped when he felt his tongue pass over the blonde's lips.

_Wh-what the hell am I __**doing**?!_

This was _not _good! Sasuke was getting way too wrapped up in Naruto while he was a dog! What if Naruto thought weirdly of this?!

The blonde male giggled happily and beamed at Sasuke. His depressed mood had vanished and he cuddled against Sasuke's neck.

Ok, so none of this bothered Naruto... that was good.

_Hm... I wonder how many times I could get away with licking him then...?_

Then… it happened.

Naruto pulled away from the dog, grabbed each side of the dog's face and pressed his lips against Sasuke's mouth and nose. The Uchiha felt his entire body grow hot and squirmed again until Naruto broke the kiss up.

"I love you, Bun-bun!" he sang as his arms wrapped around Sasuke, allowing for his weight to fall against the dog once more.

Sasuke's lips parted as he started panting from exhaustion of struggling against Naruto so much and nerves. His chest fell up and down very rapidly against Naruto's warm body.

Thankfully Naruto got off of him, but he had to say something that took a major hit to Sasuke's pride, "For a medium-sized _guy_ dog, you sure are wimpy!"

-"Let's switch places just to see how 'wimpy' _you _would be!"- growled the now moody dog.

* * *

**Whoo! This chapy was actually a good length! And it didn't end in any kind of horrible cliff-hanger! I feel so proud of myself!**

**Sorry if it wasn't enjoyable, but to me it is! Though the emotional rollarcoaster that Naruto's having was driving me crazy! (trust me, it gets worse!)**

**Preview for next chapy: The man behind the horrid jutsu finally comes into the picture! KASHI-SAN!!! But Sasuke is confused. Can Kakashi tell that this dog form is really Sasuke or does he seriously not know?!**

**If this chapy wasn't very humorous (and I know it wasn't because of all the serious 'oh-my-god-where's-Sasuke' but that was kind of the point of the chapy: "Where's Sasuke" wasn't it?) then I will tell you the next one is better! Unless something screwy happens and I'm forced to make two chapies from the next chapy! That just might happen... oh well, it'll still be fun because of Kashi-san!!!**

**Thanks for all the comments! I love my reviewers and everyone that takes the time to read my stories! I hope they entertain the SasuNaru fans out there and maybe even some who are not SasuNaru fans (though why anyone wouldn't be is beyond me)!**

**Forever the BakaNekoSan :3**


	7. Breaking and Entering

**Yay, another update! I hope all of you are happy! I am! (b/c I can now go and rest since I have everything updated!)**

**This chapy was actually going to be very long, but I cut some of it from the entire thing, so what was going to be one chapy is now two! (I was just lazy and didn't want to edit everything is what I should say...) But hey, that means that this story is going to be over 16 chapies! ... that isn't exactly a good thing for me... TOO MANY THINGS TO UPDATE!!! I didn't know that school was going to keep me this busy! If I did then I would've waited to post this entire story!**

**Warning: Sasuke has a doggy moment. Nya-ha-ha! And of course the possible OOC-ness!**

**I hope it's enjoyable; if not then I'm sorry... I probably should have kept everything together... Look forward to the next chapy though! It's one of my favs in this story!**

**Breaking and Entering**

"Hey, teme, open the damned door already!"

The blonde male made long, hard swings on the door to Sasuke's house as if he was trying to break it down bare fisted.

_If he breaks it… I won't be merciful, _thought the very moody Uchiha that was watching from a ways away from Naruto. When it was said that they would be going to Sasuke's again he didn't think that the two of them would seriously go back to see if he was there!

_Someone needs to explain to Naruto that __**I'm not home**!_

Sasuke growled, but felt distressed when the blonde refused to pay any attention to anything but the front door to the Uchiha's empty house. Naruto appeared to be lifeless in the onyx eyes because of the lack of response that the house gave him, making Sasuke, in turn, feel just as lifeless seeing this from Naruto. Never before had he seen the blonde in such a depressed state…

"That's it… There's nothing else I can do…"

The panging inside of the dog's body heightened. Naruto was never a quitter! He wasn't about to give up on Sasuke, was he?

…

Ok, so Sasuke really didn't mind Naruto searching nonstop for him! It really made him happy, truthfully… But being an arrogant jerk he couldn't admit something like that! He'd sooner drop dead!

"Since he refuses to answer, even if he isn't home… I'm going to break in!"

_Naruto, don't give in so-"BREAK IN?!"_

The dog ran over to Naruto's side and bit into the orange pants to pull the male away from the door before he really attempted to break in.

_Keep out of my house while I'm not here!!!_

…

_I mean while I'm not a human!!! Damn it this is confusing!!!_

"Let go of my pants, Bun-bun! You'll rip them!"

Onyx eyes flashed at Naruto. The blonde was about to break into Sasuke's house and he was complaining about Sasuke ripping a pair of his _pants_?!

-"Keep away from my door and I will!"- he growled angrily. Sasuke didn't want Naruto rummaging through his house and rearranging anything he had! It wasn't his fault that he was a perfectionist in everything he did and organization of his stuff was mixed in with this.

"Bun-bun! Let go, _now_!"

Naruto tried his best to shake the dog from his leg, but soon found that this only coaxed him more as he began growling savagely.

_I'm not going to lose to you in this body anymore, dobe! _

Sasuke wrapped his front paws around Naruto's leg to keep from having his grip loosen, but realized a little too late that this was a mistake. Naruto's still shaking leg made its way between the Uchiha's two back doggy legs since it had nowhere else to go with the dog holding onto it. Sasuke flushed; it felt as if he were humping Naruto!

_OK, OK, OK!!! I'LL LET GO OF YOUR DAMN PANTS!!!_

And like that Sasuke detached himself from the leg, but felt turned on from the experience and was a little disheartened with himself at letting go so quickly. It wasn't like Naruto knew that the dog was him anyways…

"Bun-bun?"

The dog jumped, feeling as if his perverse thoughts had somehow been discovered, but remained nonchalant about it when looking up to Naruto.

"Were you stopping me because you think it's wrong to break into Sasuke's house?" Naruto bent down to be level with the dog.

-"Why do you continue to ask me questions even though you know that there's no possible way to get an answer from me?!"-

Naruto smiled and ruffled the hair on top of Sasuke's head.

"Aw, you just want me to do the right thing, huh? Thanks for looking out for me!"

_Sure… I'm only keeping you from breaking down my door to "look out for you"…_

"But that's not going to stop me from getting into Sasuke's house!"

-"WHAT?! NO!"-

What was the point anymore? It was clear that Sasuke couldn't do anything about this because of his pathetic form… so he watched as Naruto broke into his house…

_Damn it all…_

-

"What the hell is with this guy and his dark colors?! _Everything _he owns is dark!"

Naruto had been going through Sasuke's clothing since the male was obviously not there. The blonde was depressed because of this, but didn't seem to be taking it so hard since he was now going through Sasuke's _underwear_!!!

The owner of the house that was very upset as of now that he was in a dog's body watched horrorstricken while Naruto held up a pair of his black boxers and examined them.

"It's bad enough that he wears dark clothing that you can see, but even his underwear?! _All_ of it is black!" he turned to Bun-bun and gave him a skeptical look then whispered mischievously, "People only wear black underwear when they want others to see it!"

Sasuke collapsed to the floor in a heap. He was getting exhausted from being around Naruto so much while the blonde didn't know it was him! He wanted so badly to transform back into his human form right now just to see the expression that Naruto would make then beat the hell out of him for breaking in his house!

-"Dobe… can we just stop looking at my underwear…?"-

The expression on Naruto's face suddenly became calculating and he held a tighter grip onto the black boxers. Without warning the blonde began stripping himself of his clothing, causing the Uchiha's eyes to widen in shock.

-"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"-

Heat consumed his face when Naruto had taken everything off, revealing all of his nude body to the dog for the second time and caused his nose to twitch at the feeling of a nosebleed coming if Naruto continued to show his body off. The blonde swiftly pulled on the black boxers and began modeling them for the horny Uchiha in front of him.

"How do I look, Bun-bun? Way sexier than Uchiha Sasuke, right?"

It was too much to bear! Sasuke felt the need to have Naruto's leg between his again to give him relief!

_AHHH!!! WHAT AM I THINKING?! I'M A __**DOG**_

…!

_And this kind of thing is __**normal **__for dog's to do…_

Sasuke sprang at Naruto at this thought and wrapped his front paws around the male's leg, breathing heavily as he started humping Naruto's leg roughly to pleasure himself.

_Damn it... I just want to start fucking him! Why do I have to be a dog?!_

"GYAAAA!!! I DON'T THINK I'M _THAT _SEXY BUN-BUN!!! DOWN! DOWN!!! _BAD_ _DOG_!!!"

Naruto shoved his hands in the dog's face to try and push him away, but wasn't getting anywhere by doing this. He then fell to the ground and tried wrestling the dog off of his leg until finally Sasuke had let go, panting heavily as he lay on the floor exhausted. The blonde twitched.

"I can't believe… I just turned my _dog _on…!" he then smirked to himself and laughed, "I must be pretty damn sexy then!"

The Uchiha continued panting.

_God… If I were human right now… Naruto… you wouldn't be able to sit down for weeks…_

He was gently picked up by Naruto and placed on the silky, dark blue bed, followed by Naruto pouncing on it right next to him. He snuggled up against Sasuke and buried his face into his fur… he really liked doing that…

After a moment of the two laying there in a relaxing silence Naruto whispered to no one in particular, "I guess this means… he really did leave…"

Sasuke paused to try and understand what he was talking about then he remembered.

_Here we go…_

He closed his eyes and exhaled.

The calm and easy-going mood the both of them had had just a moment ago drained away at this one statement.

"I guess he really _didn't _want to come back here… but I thought that maybe, after he had avenged his clan that he _would _want to come back… he must not have had a reason to come back…"

The Uchiha reopened his eyes when smelling tears and looked into Naruto's face to see the blonde rub at his eyes continuously.

_Naruto…that's not true._

"But… I-I was hoping that he would at least come back and stay… so I could tell him-"

The dog's ear twitched to a sudden creak that came from the direction of the front door and Naruto fell silent. Sasuke sat up, expecting someone to come in the room, but there was no sound of movement after the creak. He felt a low growl erupt from his throat and the hair on his back stood up. He wasn't about to let anyone come in his home and do what they wished while he was there! Something grabbed him from behind and he gave a small yelp and whipped around only to see a nervous looking Naruto holding onto him.

_What the hell?! You're a __**ninja **__Naruto! You shouldn't be afraid right now! _

The two remained very silent once they heard footsteps coming towards the room. Naruto tensed up and tightened his grip on Bun-bun, but the dog didn't sense fear from the blonde. A spark of valor suddenly radiated from Naruto's body and he began to remove himself from the bed.

"Stay here, Bun-bun. I don't want you getting hurt," he whispered when slowly making his way to his clothes and grabbing a kunai knife from his bag then left the room stealthily.

_Does he seriously think I'm going to just sit here and wait?_

Sasuke removed himself from the bed as well and stalked off after Naruto. When he entered the living room he felt all of his tensed muscles relax at who it was that had entered his house.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!!!" Naruto happily dropped the kunai to the floor and hugged the man standing in front of him from pure joy of it not being a robber, "Don't do that again! If you break into someone's house they'll think you're a criminal!!!"

The older man patted the top of Naruto's spiky head and looked a little disturbed.

"I could say the same thing about you. I just got back from my mission and was walking by to notice that Sasuke's door was wide open, but Naruto… why are you only in your underwear…?"

Naruto let go of Kakashi and rubbed the back of his head.

"Uh… well, you see… I was just seeing if Sasuke was home or not… and got a little distracted…"

The expression on Kakashi's face was blank, saying that he didn't want to know what Naruto meant by being "distracted" and went on, "And is Sasuke here...?" finding that maybe this was the reason for Naruto being "distracted," but again, he didn't want to know if it was.

The light in Naruto's eyes darkened and he looked to the floor.

"No..."

Kakashi followed suit and looked down only to see that a dog now stood between him and half-naked teen.

-"Hey, Kakashi! Take this stupid jutsu off of me! I'm sick of being a damn dog! You know, this is really the stupidest thing you've ever come up with! You get fleas and they're annoying as hell!!!"-

Kakashi bent over to rub the dog's head gently and looked up to Naruto.

"Is this your new pet?"

Sasuke's jaw dropped and he froze.

_Does he not know that it's me?!_

* * *

**Mm-k. Another cliffy because BakaNekoSan was lazy and didn't want to edit the entire chapy. Gomen. At least this tells you that another chapy MIGHT be coming soon... all depends on school.**

**This chapy wasn't so great in my mind because I cut out everything else, but hopefully it's still somewhat good... I feel like Naruto's getting repetative, but that will stop soon. I'm serious! There's too many depressing moments as well! Must fill it with humor once again!!! That's why I like the next chapy!**

**I love my readers and reviewers very much! Thank you all!**

**Preview to Next Chapy: Kakashi wants to help Naruto understand how one is supposed to take care of a dog. This isn't something Sasuke's too happy about! And how is he supposed to tell Kakashi that this mutt is really Uchiha Sasuke?!**

**Forever the BakaNekoSan :3**


	8. Pet Store

**Yay! I'm back with this story too!!! I hope the readers are happy!**

**I went back to reread my work for this story and ugh! I have been very lazy with it! My writing style does this sometimes... So I worked extra hard on this chapter and tried making it better than the past ones! I might go back to previous chapys and edit them to be better, but that won't happen until I'm finished with this story!**

**Warning: Oh goodness... what was horrible in this chapy??? Kakashi is a little more energetic than usual, but that's because I imagined that he would have fun in this situation. Nothing extremely bad...**

**Well, please enjoy! This is the longest chapy for this story as of yet, and I hope it's a good one! Please excuse any grammatical errors for I have too much to do to go through and read it again! Hopefully it is all understandable!**

**Pet Store**

The Uchiha felt an icy sensation fill his being as the slight tingling of a shiver crawled up his spine and rested just at the base of his neck. The fur at the spot rose and fell as the sensation had come and gone. His onyx eyes were wide and in shock, all the while staring at Kakashi as the man continued to pat his very troubled head.

_Wait a minute… If he doesn't know that it's me… THEN I'LL BE STUCK AS A FUCKING DOG FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!!!_

Sasuke flushed at the thought of being near Naruto for all of that time, but he quickly shoved it aside when remembering he was a _dog _and a _dog _couldn't do things to Naruto the way Sasuke wanted to do them.

NO! This was not acceptable! Kakashi _had _to realize that this dog in front of him was Sasuke. Something needed to be done!

-"KAKASHI!!! DON'T ACT LIKE YOU DON'T RECOGNIZE ME, DAMN IT!!! THIS IS _YOUR _JUTSU! YOU SHOULD KNOW WHEN SOMEONE USES IT, RIGHT?!"-

Raged barking reverberated throughout the house as Sasuke yelled his objection to the silver headed man. The man only tore away from the dog at having a ringing in his ears, and Sasuke was given a hard _smack _across the nose by a foreign hand that he soon came to realize belonged to Naruto.

"Oi! Shut up, Bun-bun! You're making a lot of racket!" cried the blonde male now resting by Sasuke's side. The boy fell to his knees and gently grabbed at the fur to the dog's neck in an attempt to keep Sasuke from pouncing on Kakashi, for that was still the Uchiha's goal. When the dog saw that he would never get anywhere with Naruto holding him the way he was, he sourly plopped down on his haunches in discontent to being treated like a dog; it was inhuman, and literally speaking!

Gazing on into his sensei's one revealed eye, Naruto grinned as he hugged the now quieted dog tightly.

"Yeah, this dog's mine! I went to your house yesterday to show him to you, but I guess you were still on that mission you just got back from."

Kakashi stood there staring down at both Naruto and the dog, a trace of puzzlement developing on his face.

"What's wrong, Kakashi-sensei?"

The very confused expression was gone in the blink of an eye, replaced by a humored look. A crease formed in the mask on Kakashi's face from the smile he gave Naruto. "What was that name again? The one you're calling your dog?" His bliss couldn't be more obvious to the Uchiha. He acted as if he were about to bust out laughing, but he held it back until Naruto excitedly burst out, "BUN-BUN!" causing the man to let go of the humor he felt for this without a single attempt to keep it in.

Naruto glared heatedly at his sensei, for he wasn't the only one that had reacted like this. What was wrong with Kakashi and Kiba? They seemed to find something funny in calling a dog 'Bun-bun!' Sure, his dog was a boy, and obviously not a bunny, but what did that matter?!

"And what's so funny?!" interrogated the blonde, though he knew _why _Kakashi was laughing, he just thought that maybe the older male would give him a reason _not _to call his dog 'Bun-bun.' Not that he would change the name, but he still wanted a _good_ reason.

Kakashi composed himself again and gave a slight cough before answering Naruto's question, "Oh, I was just wondering how the poor dog took it when he first learned that his name was… _Bun-bun_!" he chuckled a little after this, giving away _everything_ to the Uchiha.

-"So you _did_ notice, you jackass! You _can_ understand me, can't you?!"-

It was all Naruto could do to hold onto the fur around his dog's neck even tighter, for the dog lurched forward and growled with menace at Kakashi.

"What the hell's wrong with you, Bun-bun?! Kakashi's not hurting anything, so stop trying to attack him!"

Said man crossed his arms and watched the dog struggle against Naruto's arms in attempt to shake him loose. "That's right, _Bun-bun_, calm down!" His blissful smile formed yet another crease in his mask at this.

Sasuke snarled at Kakashi and felt his face redden at the humiliation of his new nickname giving the man the opportunity to poke fun at him while he couldn't do anything about it. First Kiba now Kakashi! He'd never live this down to either of them!

Fingers roughly ran through Sasuke's fur, running from his neck to his belly at a speed that shocked the raven, and they violently massaged the area with more forcefulness since the wielder of the hands was very upset with the dog. This caused the Uchiha to gasp at first in shock, and he just barely let out a moan when remembering that there, before him, stood someone who could understand everything coming from his mouth – or so he was thinking – making him quickly shut up, losing both his edge and his pleasured moment all at once. He fell limp onto the ground to evade Naruto's hand, afraid that the blonde would coax any more pleasured sounds from him if he kept in an upright position.

"What was that?" their sensei questioned curiously upon seeing that the dog had gone from wildly barking to pitifully whimpering on the ground in a matter of seconds after Naruto had rubbed his stomach.

"Bun-bun has a weak spot that makes him like this. Every time I touch his stomach he seems to calm down a bit afterwards. It's weird… I thought dogs _liked _to be belly rubbed…"

This brought heat to Sasuke's face. If Kakashi was able to understand him then he knew, for certain, that Sasuke enjoyed the belly rub _very _much. He kept his gaze on the man's shoes, but hesitantly made the decision to take a peek up and look into his sensei's eyes. He nearly flinched when connecting his gaze with Kakashi's.

_Shit… He really __**does **__know, doesn't he?! _

He quickly diverted his eyes from his sensei in a panic.

What if Kakashi told Naruto?! Sasuke would be in real deep shit then! But wait… Sasuke didn't know _for sure _that Kakashi knew it was him! Then… why was he laughing up the stupid 'Bun-bun' name if he didn't know? He probably just thought it to be funny like Kiba… but Kiba knew his identity! Augh! This was too complicated to think about! Kakashi would never answer Sasuke when he spoke to him, so what explains that?!... Unless he _did _know it was Sasuke and only wanted to irritate him by ignoring him! Jackass! That's probably what he was doing!

"Hm… Naruto…"

Sasuke thought his heart stopped beating, he felt so tense. This was it! He was going to tell Naruto! The humiliation of everything that had happened: pressing against Naruto's nude body while bathing, giving Naruto many doggy kisses, and worst of all, _humping his leg_!!! It took every ounce of energy that Sasuke had to keep from lunging at Kakashi.

"I'm worried that pulling on Bun-bun's fur might hurt him. You should probably get him a collar."

This seemed to set the Uchiha's mind at ease. At least Kakashi wasn't-wait a minute! _What _did Kakashi just say?! A… _collar_?!

A vision of that horrible, unlikely to happen, _nightmare_ flashed before Sasuke. Having a collar would _not _suit him well! There was no way in hell he would really succumb to being Naruto's pet!

…

It was a little too late for thoughts like that, wasn't it? It didn't matter! He wasn't getting a collar! No way; no how! Naruto didn't approve of things like giving a dog a collar…! Or _did _he…?

"Hm…" the boy sitting beside Sasuke went into pensive mode and came out of it with a huge grin. "I bet he would look nice with a blue collar!"

The dog made the motion to clench his "fists" as if in human form from aggravation to not having his way for the umpteenth time, but found that this only scratched up the floor, and he immediately quit. There was no use to thinking that Naruto would do anything he _thought _he would do! He always did the opposite!

Kakashi was about to give a comment, but paused before he got it out, and must have changed his mind, for he shook his head slightly and asked, "Want me to accompany you to get a collar?"

"Yeah," was the quick response made by the blonde, distressing Sasuke even more than he already was, "I just need to go put my clothes back on and we can go!"

_I'm really going to be his __**pet!**_

-

"Wow! I've never been in a pet store before!"

Naruto, now dressed in his normal attire, goggled at the relatively large store made specifically for pets. It had many aisles of chew toys, pet food and treats, collars, leashes, tags, the list went on and on! So many things that one could buy! Naruto's mind started spinning with ideas, and Sasuke got a sour feeling in the pit of his stomach at the look on the blonde's face.

_Dobe, I hated the idea of a collar, but I draw the line at having toys, dog food, and most definitely __**leashes**_

The thought of him being strapped to a _leash _was _very _degrading! Even more so than a _collar_! A collar meant that you _belonged _to someone, but a _leash _meant that the person holding onto the other end was your _master_, and Naruto was anything _but _that! Sasuke saw himself as the master role, and he quite liked it that way, but that stupid nightmare he had had taken him from his superiority, leaving him with very uneasy feelings at being the equivalent of the very thing he embodied.

"Is it rude of me to ask you what you have been feeding your dog?"

Sasuke turned his head and felt his stomach groan in detest of the memory. Naruto liked eating one thing and one thing only. This happened to be the _only _thing that Sasuke had eaten as well, and even though Naruto loved the food with a burning passion Sasuke couldn't eat it _every _meal of the day like the blonde could!

"RAMEN!" chorused the boy, but his chipper mood dimmed when seeing Kakashi giving him an 'I-can't-believe-you' look. "Well, what was I supposed to feed him?! I can't starve him, Kakashi!"

The elder male shook his head and muttered about how unhealthy Naruto's eating habits were and how he would one day succeed in making him eat something else. Kakashi pointed off to an aisle and said, "You can find plenty of dog food down one of those aisles, Naruto. That would probably be better for Bun-bun."

The thought of ramen sounded heavenly compared to eating _dog food_, and the raven nearly gnawed at Kakashi's leg to get him to shut up, but his hopes of Naruto not getting too friendly with the idea crashed when seeing the blonde fly past him and into one of the many aisles to get a better look at things, leaving Sasuke with Kakashi as his only means of company.

The silver headed male made a small 'ahem' and went on to say, "So, _Sasuke_…" he giggled a couple of times, sending the dog into a fitful rage as he turned on Kakashi, "or should I say _Bun-bun_?"

-"You _did_ know, you jackass!"- Sasuke was ready to round on Kakashi. How dare he act as if he didn't know it was him! How would _he _feel if Sasuke turned _him _into a dog and let _him _stay in it for a few days – and while Sasuke was at it – he could even send Kakashi over to Iruka's house to have him horny as hell over the person _he _liked, but unable to do anything to give himself relief from it! Oh, how Sasuke would _love _to do that, but there was not a single way for him to do so, especially while he was a dog and incapable of performing any kind of jutsus.

"Of course I would know that it was you. It _is_ my jutsu is it not? One that you obviously didn't pay close attention to in detail when I performed it for you." Kakashi gave a small shake of the head, showing disappointment in his star pupil.

-"So I can't turn back, big deal! You can tell me how to!"- barked the dog, still sore about Kakashi taking silence for so long _and _the fact that he just told Naruto that he needed to eat _dog food_!

There was a swift movement made by Kakashi, and he rapidly produced a book from a pouch on his belt in excitement. "I nearly forgot! I was in such a suspenseful spot! I'm sorry, Sasuke, but you will have to wait until I finish this up before I tell you how to transform back into a human."

-"SUSPENSEFUL, MY ASS! THAT HAS TO BE THE _HUNDREDTH_ TIME YOU'VE READ THAT DAMN PORNO BOOK!!!"-

The one revealed eye glared over the book and at Sasuke. "It's not my fault that I get suspenseful every time I read it!" Kakashi took a moment before adding in defense, "And it's not _pornographic_ in any way!"

A low growl was made by the Uchiha, and he quickly lunged for Kakashi's book. Tearing up the most precious thing his sensei held dearly would make him feel a smidge better, plus he didn't know what else he _could _do in this state, so he was about to do anything to get his fangs on that book!

Kakashi didn't like the looks of this. He swiftly pulled the book out of Sasuke's reach and dashed off into a nearby aisle, holding the book in a hug as if to protect it.

"Who in their right mind attacks a book?!"

Sasuke hastily chased after him, slipping every now and then because of the slick floor beneath his feet.

-"Who in their right mind screams this at a dog?!"-

The two whipped around a corner, and Kakashi purposely knocked over a large stack of carrying cages. One smacked the Uchiha square on the nose and he yelped and felt his eyes burn from the sensation, but ignored it, reared back, and jumped over the many carrying cages.

"Why so angry, Sasuke? I thought you would be thrilled to have _someone _know it was you!" cried the man as he turned another corner down another aisle.

-"It's not the fact that you _know_! It's the fact that you _knew _and _didn't _help me out at all!!!"-

"Oh, come now!" Sasuke rounded the corner to see his sensei standing gracefully atop of a cat's scratching post to keep out of the Uchiha's reach. "Do you really think it would have been a good thing for you if I had said, 'why, hello there, Sasuke!'? No! So I kept quiet for _your _sake!"

-"No! But you could have given _some _clue to me that you knew! And you're taking advantage of this situation to treat me like a, a-"-

"A dog?"

Sasuke snarled and tackled the base of the scratching post, making it wobble dangerously back and forth. The silver headed male made a quick leap from his post and landed nicely on the ground. The scratching post, however, crashed into many fish tanks that had been set up for display. Water covered the floor with flopping fish jumping left and right. Sasuke smiled to himself. While being a dog he couldn't _really _take the blame for this, and he quite liked it. He turned to Kakashi, who looked to feel nervous of this situation now; obviously the two of them were thinking the same thing: _Kakashi was to blame_!

"You're crazy if you think _I'm _going to clean all of this! You _are _Naruto's dog! Make _him _clean it!"

-"Quit trying to pin this on Naruto! He hasn't done a thing!"-

Off they were again. The pet store was in a ruckus now; pets whining, barking, growling, and hissing, the workers trying to desperately clean the floors, glass, carrying cages, _everything _that Kakashi had dealt destruction to. Sasuke was trying to catch the male in hopes to give him a good _snap _for the trouble he was causing, but again the male rounded a corner, losing Sasuke a little since it took a lot of work for Sasuke to curve perfectly without slipping on the floor.

When the Uchiha turned the corner after slipping slightly, thanks to his wet paws, he saw Naruto standing there with the cutest bewildered expression on his face with _Kakashi _standing directly behind him, his hands on the blonde's shoulders as if Naruto would act as a barrier for him.

"Excuse me, Naruto, but I need to use you as a shield for a moment!"

"What the hell?! Let go, Kakashi-sensei! And quit running around, tempting Bun-bun to attack you! You're causing too much noise! I already hear all of the animals because you made them mad!" the blonde struggled to get Kakashi's hands off of his shoulders to better scold him – wasn't he supposed to be their _sensei_?! – but the older male held a tight grip, not budging an inch from his spot as Sasuke barked madly at him.

-"Leave Naruto out of this and fight _me_, you cowardly bastard!"- He would jump up at Kakashi, but he was afraid of hurting Naruto in the process, so he tried to quickly circle around Naruto only to have Kakashi pull the blonde to face Sasuke again. This irritated the Uchiha and he bared his dangerous fangs at the male, eyes becoming slits in the process.

"Naruto, your dog's insane! You do know that if a dog attacks someone without reason then it will have to be put down, right? You need to calm him down!" Kakashi squeezed Naruto's shoulders tightly as if he were really worried about this situation, which he _wasn't_!

Naruto gave his sensei an uncomfortable look and glanced down at Sasuke as if hoping the dog would help him out of this situation by calming down on his own.

Oh, but this did anything but calm Sasuke down! The dog growled savagely, hair rising on his back, and nails digging into the floor tiles. -"Get your fucking hands _off _of him, Kakashi, or I _will _attack you!"-

Kakashi appeared to grin. Something sparked in his eyes, and he quickly went into a pathetic state with Naruto, whispering suggestively, "I think you should pin him down and rub his stomach! You said that _always_ calms him down!" and he let Naruto go, giving him a little shove in Sasuke's direction.

This did not bode well with the Uchiha. He backed up a couple paces, still growling and eyeing Kakashi with extreme hate as of right now, but he wasn't willing for Naruto to come into this and give him a 'belly rub.' -"_Fine_, Kakashi! You win the battle! Just tell him not to do that!"- Sasuke's doggy lips covered his fangs once more, the hair began to settle back down again, and his growling was less threatening. Just mentioning this act of pleasure for him in public when _someone _knew his identity scared Sasuke into sudden obedience.

Kakashi quickly shot back, "You're just afraid I'll hear you _moaning_ like you were before!"

Both Naruto and Sasuke's eyes widened in shock to what the man had said. Naruto slowly turned his head to Kakashi, who now slapped his head for his mistake of talking to the "dog"with Naruto right there.

"W-What was that, sensei?"

There was a pause as Kakashi tried thinking of something to bring Naruto's attention away from this, but then he had it! The truth was definitely the right thing to tell! Sasuke caught on to Kakashi, for the look he had hinted to Sasuke as to what the man was about to do, and he quickly bolted towards the older male in attempt to attack Kakashi to the ground before he told Naruto!

But he was stopped suddenly. Naruto rapidly slung his arms around the Uchiha and sat beside him to make sure he didn't dart off again.

-"Damn you, Naruto! You don't know what you're doing!"- the dog diverted his gaze from Naruto to Kakashi, -"If you dare to tell him, I swear, you'll live to regret it!"- The whole while he tried pushing away from the blonde, but his strength was still low, so he managed with glaring and growling at his sensei.

The masked man seemed to smile.

"Ok, Naruto, I'm going to tell you why I just said what I said and it's going to be the truth, so don't give me any weird looks."

Naruto cocked a brow, but nodded in any case. He didn't have a clue as to what was going on and wanted Kakashi to tell him why he suddenly mentioned someone moaning. It was awkward, and a little random to him, so an explanation would be a nice thing to have.

Sasuke felt every muscle in his body tense, and his heart started pounding against his chest. This was it. The bathing, the kissing, the _humping_! It was all over for him! Naruto probably didn't even _like _Sasuke like that! If he knew that Uchiha Sasuke had done those things to him, he would be disgusted and never want to associate himself with Sasuke again! If Kakashi dared to tell Naruto the truth, he _better _be expecting the consequences!

"Your dog is really…" Kakashi gave a dramatic pause, knowing very well that the two males before him were dying with anxiety over this matter.

The blonde's eyes widened with suspense, and he nodded a few times, suggesting that Kakashi should go on. "Yes? Yes? What about him?"

An aggravated and very nervous Uchiha growled, -"God! Just say something; anything! You're driving _me _insane!"- for the man was taking _way _too long with his dramatic pause!

Kakashi looked to be enjoying himself because of this.

"Your dog is really horny for you!"

Naruto blinked, and his mind became a blank.

Sasuke looked as if he had been shot. It wasn't what he _thought _Kakashi was going to say, but he wanted to kill him all the same for it!

After Kakashi noticed that neither one was giving a response he went on, "Yes, Naruto, you better be careful with Bun-bun, because he gets very horny every time you touch him! Why, just today when you rubbed his belly the way you did, be started moaning uncontrollably; you only hear this as whimpering, however. That's why it has never crossed your mind that your dog is _gay_!"

Naruto, though very dumbstruck with the news, went pensive, but held a firm grip on his dog, for the poor animal was shaking with embarrassment and rage at all of the comments made about him. "I _guess_ that explains a lot…"

Kakashi looked puzzled. "What? It _does_? What do you mean?"

The Uchiha remained quiet and looked off in a completely different direction as Kakashi directed his attention towards him; his face flushed at thinking about all the things he knew Naruto was about to say.

"Yeah, I know that all dogs will give you kisses and everything, but Bun-bun seemed more affectionate about it. Last night, when I was sad, he kissed me… or licked me, whatever you want to call it, to make me feel better, and I know he did it for the purpose of comforting me! And then, before you came to Sasuke's house, Bun-bun humped my leg after seeing me wearing Sasuke's underwear!" He paused for a moment, and then continued, "Are these things normal for a dog to do?"

There was a long silence as Kakashi looked from Naruto, to dog form of Sasuke, to Naruto again, and he rubbed his head thoughtfully.

"Um… Naruto?"

"Yes, sensei?"

"Why don't you go and pick out a collar for Bun-bun while I, uh, 'bond' with said dog."

Naruto gave Kakashi a worried look, but the male reassured him that all of those things that Naruto had just stated were normal for this particular situation and the blonde looked a little more at ease as he climbed to his feet and raced off to find the collars. When Kakashi was sure that Naruto was out of ear-shot he quickly squatted by Sasuke, who was trying, with everything he had, to keep from looking Kakashi in the eye, but it was no use. The man went on into conversation whether Sasuke looked him in the eye or not.

"_Licking_ him, Sasuke? I'm just hoping that it was _only_ his face! I thought you would do _at least _this much in the situation you're in, but _humping _him?! Are you that desperate for sexual attention while in this state?"

The dog quickly snarled, -"I knew you'd have a comment about me humping his leg, and _no _I'm not _that _desperate!"- it was a lie, but it was bad enough that Kakashi knew he had humped Naruto, no need to go and say that he was craving to have sex with him almost twenty-four-seven! That would be even _more _humiliating! -"But you're _really _sick to make a comment about the kiss! Like he said, he was _sad_!"-

Kakashi gave Sasuke a skeptical look, believing there was more to the kiss that neither of them wanted to admit. "And exactly how "happy" were you intending to make Naruto when you kissed him?"

-"KAKASHI!!!"-

The raven-haired dog jumped at Kakashi, both of his front paws hitting the man's shoulders as he tried to tackle him to the ground for embarrassing him. Kakashi, now lying on his back on the floor – for he let Sasuke do this as an advantage to test a theory – reached under Sasuke with one hand and began caressing the dog's stomach.

A growl was heaved from between clenched teeth; Sasuke hadn't budged.

"I knew it."

Sasuke snorted, -"You knew _what_?!"-

"You only get that calm, relaxing, and heated rush of feelings when _Naruto_ touches you here," he gently poked Sasuke's stomach for emphasis.

This baffled the Uchiha for a moment. He realized that what Kakashi had indicated was true. When Kakashi rubbed his stomach it didn't do a single thing to him, but when Naruto did it… Sasuke's thoughts trailed off as he began to feel uneasy and nervous about this topic, and he got off of Kakashi and plopped down on the floor, staring off at nothing in particular as he let his thoughts drift. He really loved Naruto… a lot. It hurt to be in this stupid form and be around the blonde so much, to the point that Sasuke could burst with emotion for him, but never be able to reach out and _touch _him the way he wished to. Naruto could touch Sasuke all he wanted and make him feel this special feeling he had, but he couldn't do the same for Naruto… even if he was a human it would probably be impossible for him to ever touch Naruto and make him feel like this.

A voice called out to them, disrupting Sasuke's train of thought, "Hey, Kakashi-sensei! I've got the collar that I want for Bun-bun!"

The silver headed male stood up as the blonde came running with collar in hand. "Great Naruto let me see."

Naruto quickly handed the collar over to his sensei with a grin on his face. Sasuke wanted to see it, but then remembered he couldn't see many things in color and became distressed. He still wondered what type of – he felt a tingling sensation crawl up his spine at the thought – _collar_ he was going to receive from Naruto.

"Naruto?"

"Yes?"

Kakashi held onto a large strip of dark blue leather with a circular tag, thickly outlined in red with white filling the center. "What are the chances of you thinking about Sasuke when picking this out?"

The Uchiha's nose sniffed the air curiously when hearing this, and his tail wagged at the thought of Naruto still worrying about his "mysterious disappearance." He didn't care if it was horrible to be happy about Naruto worrying! He was only happy because Naruto was _thinking _about him!

The question Kakashi asked took Naruto off guard and his cheeks turned a shade of red. "Hn?! What makes you think that?!"

Kakashi held the collar out to Naruto. "_Dark_ _blue_ being the main portion of the collar, _red_ and _white_ signifying for the identity or the tag in this case… does it not sound like the colors that Sasuke used to wear? They are even in the exact same context that he wore them," he had distinctly said the colors for Sasuke's benefit.

The tidbit of information sent the Uchiha's tail to wagging even more as his hopes for Naruto caring about him as more than just _friends _rose again. It might not be very possible to happen, but it could, couldn't it?

Snatching the item from his sensei's hands, Naruto grumbled under his breath, "That's just a coincidence!"

"Hey, you!" cried a voice that shook the three of them from their personal thoughts on the color code for the collar, and they turned to see a severely pissed looking man march up to them in a huff, "You three are the ones that caused all of this damn mess, aren't you?!" the man pointed towards the scene of the broken fish tanks, the scattered carrying cages, and other little forms of destruction that the dog and Kakashi had caused. "Well then, _all of you _get to help clean up _and _pay up for the damage!"

Azure eyes looked to Kakashi and the dog accusingly as Naruto held a tighter grip on the collar. He had no part in this so why must he empty his pockets and clean just because these two decided to screw around?!

Sasuke was quite content with where he was at; he wouldn't have to lift a finger to help clean! Being a dog – in situations like these – wasn't half bad!

-

The sun had come close to completely setting by the time that Kakashi and Naruto had finished with the hard task of cleaning up the pet store. Both of the males were very tired, but it was nothing compared to the feeling of accomplishing a class A mission. Sasuke was feeling pretty good though since he didn't have to do nothing but sit there and watch the two help clean up.

Once they had left the store Naruto rounded on Kakashi, "You-you-! _Baka_! Why did _I _have to go and take the blame too?!"

"Because Bun-bun is _your _dog and he is _your _responsibility. Whatever he does that is bad is put on you."

Naruto furiously began grumbling to himself about the matter and clenched his fist around a blue strip of leather. This brought a smile to Kakashi's face when he took note of the action.

"'Just a coincidence!' and yet he still bought the collar," he chuckled more to himself than to anyone else in his company.

"Hey! I happen to like it, ok?!" cried the embarrassed blonde as he kept a firm hold on the collar within his hands.

Sasuke was just relieved that Naruto didn't buy anything else while in the pet store! For a second there he thought that he would be consuming dog treats and forced to play with dog toys!

Kakashi turned on Naruto and whispered quietly in his ear so Sasuke couldn't hear, "_You only like it so much because it __**does **__remind you of Sasuke, correct?_" When their sensei pulled back and began his stroll again Sasuke saw a dark blush on Naruto's face and an almost sad expression. He sensed a mixture of heated and mournful feelings come off of the boy and quickly became curious as to what Kakashi said to him.

-"What the hell did you say?!"-

"Quiet, Bun-bun," whispered the blonde in a very serious tone that was very unlike him. It made Sasuke upset, but he reluctantly did as he was told. He figured it had to be annoying to hear everything he said in bark-form.

"Kakashi-sensei…?" started Naruto a little hesitantly.

"Hm?"

Naruto's mouth opened to speak, but nothing came out, so he closed it once more. He appeared to be fighting with himself over asking Kakashi something. It was because he was afraid; Sasuke sensed fear from him as he tried speaking again.

"Do… do you know where Sasuke is?"

The dog watched the ground as he walked on by Naruto's side. Naruto must have been afraid of the thought of having 'no' as an answer. How was Kakashi going to respond though? Was he going to tell the truth or give Naruto a flat lie? Sasuke glanced up at their sensei, who kept on walking silently down the street.

"Yes."

Naruto and Sasuke froze.

"R-REALLY?! WHERE?!"

Kakashi halted as well, and he turned around to face Naruto. It seemed to take a little time, but he finally came up with something to say, "He's with someone that's taking very good care of him."

The blonde sounded excited when asking, "Who? WHO?!"

"Someone that cares for him deeply and, in turn, Sasuke cares for that person too. He's quite happy actually." Kakashi couldn't help but want to do this to Naruto; he wasn't telling a lie though, and that was what counted.

-"You jackass… are you purposely trying to make Naruto upset? What exactly are you trying to pull?"- Sasuke didn't like where Kakashi was going with this at all. It was as if he was trying to depress the blonde from finding Sasuke, though it would be hard to find him since the Uchiha was right there in front of him, but Sasuke didn't want that to happen! He didn't want Naruto to give up on him! He _wanted _Naruto to care about him and keep thinking about him…

Kakashi acted as if he heard nothing from Sasuke, which pissed the Uchiha off even more than he already was as he went to snarling at Kakashi, demanding that he tell Naruto something different, but the older male continued ignoring him. Naruto tried shushing the dog, and when he was finally quiet the blonde looked back up to Kakashi. "Th-that's great… but _who_ is he staying with?"

"Hm… Sasuke doesn't want me to tell you."

This appeared to make Naruto pissed off too, but not at Kakashi.

"And why the hell _not_?!"

The silver headed male gave a shrug. "I don't know… he's probably just embarrassed because he really loves the person he's staying with, and you know how Sasuke is… he likes for personal things to _stay _personal."

-"KAKASHI! TAKE THAT BACK OR I'LL KILL YOU!!!"- This was too much; Kakashi was going too far, and Sasuke couldn't take it anymore! He really was beginning to make Naruto doubt him! That's not what he wanted!!!

This didn't even make the older male flinch; he continued to speak to Naruto as if he were deaf to the ranting and raving going on, "Seriously, Naruto, he threatened to kill me if I mentioned that much to you."

Naruto scowled and sounded bitter when speaking again, "Well, I'm glad that he's been so damn happy while I've been sitting here worrying about him like an idiot!" Tears filled his eyes to this and he sniffled a little while staring at the ground fixedly. "He's-he's never even _cared_ about how I feel!"

That grabbed Sasuke's full attention as he glared at Naruto and the hair on his back rose ever so slightly. This pissed him off more than Kakashi, surprisingly! How dare Naruto say that! Here was Sasuke worrying about how Naruto feels about him for almost his entire life of knowing Naruto, and the blonde comes up saying the exact opposite! That's _bullshit_!

-"Baka! I _have_ cared! You just never bothered _telling_ me how you feel, so how the hell was I supposed to know?!"-

"How was Sasuke going to come about this knowledge, Naruto, if you didn't tell him?" Kakashi provided the translation for Sasuke.

There was a pause as the blonde wiped away the tears and sniffled a bit as he spoke a little shook up, "I… tried… but he never cared enough to listen… I… _tried _to tell him… one day… I was really nervous and… and when I was finally standing in front of him… he just made fun of me by calling me a girl! I-I was afraid that he would laugh at me and reject me right then and there! So… so I ran away… and I haven't tried again since…"

_Doki_

Something about this sounded all too familiar to the Uchiha… He remembered that day! Shit! He really did screw that one up! A chance to finally know how Naruto felt and he went and blew it for his ego because Naruto's nervous actions made _him _nervous! If he had only waited a few seconds for Naruto to speak then he would have known! Damn it! It sounds like Naruto really does care about him the way he keeps carrying on!

Kakashi folded his arms. "You really must not care about Sasuke as much as you let on then."

This worked on Naruto's nerves; his eyes flashed at Kakashi. "What the hell are you saying?! What do _you _know about it?!"

"Take a look at Sakura. She says that she cares for Sasuke and I believe her because she's _never_ given up on him even after the number of times he's rejected her."

Naruto balled up his fists and looked as if he were about to cry again, but he held the tears back. "But… _she's _a _girl_! _I'm _a _guy_!"

_Doki doki_

_Naruto…? What you're saying…? Are you saying that you __**love **__me?!_

Everything Naruto was saying began to heat up Sasuke, and he yearned to hear more, but at the same time he wanted to be human again to hear it. In this damn dog's body he couldn't touch Naruto, but if he were a human he would coax many things out of the blonde with his touches! This was really making Sasuke hot! He couldn't bear this anymore! Couldn't Kakashi see how painful this was to him?! If he couldn't then he was just a heartless bastard!

The older male waved Naruto's pathetic form of an excuse away and ignored the whimpers coming from Sasuke.

"Now you're just running away again."

Naruto looked as if he wanted to argue again, but immediately stopped for he saw that no matter how he tried to work around it, Kakashi was right. He paused in thought for a moment before running past his sensei to go home, leaving "Bun-bun" behind.

Sasuke didn't know whether he should follow or not; he wanted to see if Kakashi would transform him back, but it appeared that the silver-headed male was only going to stand there at stare off at Naruto as he ran home. A mixture of emotions clashed within Sasuke, for he wanted to follow Naruto very badly and make everything up to him, but Kakashi wasn't making a single move to transform him, making him very pissed! Then there was that speech that Naruto made before that stung Sasuke a bit. He couldn't believe that Naruto actually felt that he didn't care about him at all! He ought to go home and _bite _him for that!

"I know what you're thinking, Sasuke, and the answer is 'no,' I will not transform you back into a human right now."

-"AND WHY THE HELL NOT?! CAN'T YOU SEE-"-

"No, Sasuke, can't _you _see? You've hurt Naruto a lot and I'm not talking about how you brushed him off that one day when he tried to tell you his feel-"

-"I DIDN'T BRUSH HIM OFF, BASTARD! I-"-

"I _don't care_ if you brushed him off or not, Sasuke! The point is you hurt Naruto not only at that time, but when you abandoned Konoha too, even more than you can imagine, and I will not let you transform into a human again so you can go and try to take advantage of Naruto while he's torn up about it! _Don't _disagree with me because we both know exactly what you were planning on doing if I turned you back into a human right now!"

The two males remained silent, both being very angered with the other and refusing to talk at first. Sasuke felt a chill crawl up his spine when a slow gust of wind brushed against his coat of fur, the chilled feeling remaining with him even after the wind had died down. It was getting dark, and Sasuke needed to go back home… but what _home _was he going to go to? He knew very well that in either form he was in his aim would be directed towards Naruto's house. Was Kakashi going to transform him back into a human so he could "go to his house" or was the man really going to be so cruel by truly keeping Sasuke in this dog form where he'd have to go through another torture-filled night of sleeping with Naruto and not being able to do a single thing?

-"Kakashi, turn me back into a human and I _swear_ I'll go back to _my _house,"- lied the animal through his teeth. He felt a little queasy from Kakashi's speech of how he made Naruto very upset, and the only solution for this sickened feeling was to go and apologize to the blonde. Now that he thought about it, _had _Sasuke ever _truly _apologize to Naruto for hurting him? No. He hadn't. Sasuke had too much pride and was too afraid that the apology wouldn't be accepted by the blonde because what he did was beyond any form of forgiveness; Sasuke nearly killed Naruto.

_If I could just apologize now… there might be something that can form between us…_

"I don't think so," was the cool response given to the plea Sasuke made, and it caused the Uchiha's fur to stand up on the back of his neck in furry.

-"What?!"-

Kakashi was really beginning to piss Sasuke off! This entire 'being-Naruto's-pet' was all of his fault! The one thing that was really riling Sasuke up was the fact that Kakashi _knew _what Sasuke wanted with Naruto, and now was his chance to finally make something happen between them, but Kakashi wouldn't let him because he was being a _jackass_!

"It seems to me that you had a listening problem when it came to Naruto before you became his pet. It's ironic how you can only listen to what he says now… I'll let you stay in this form for a little while longer; maybe you'll get something out of it, plus it will cool you down from your heated desires."

A throaty growl emerged from Sasuke, seeing nothing but flaws in this idea. How was this supposed to 'cool down his heated desires' if he kept staying in Naruto's company?! If _anything_ happened his desires would be fueled even more than before!

Kakashi sighed, "Really now, the two of you need to grow up," and he vanished in a puff of smoke before the growling Uchiha, who stared intently at the spot for a moment longer.

_He wants me to listen, huh? That's a lie… he just doesn't trust me with Naruto is what it is…_

What was Sasuke expecting, _everyone _to be completely faithful to him even after he had come back? This must have been Kakashi's own little 'punishment' for leaving Konoha in the first place. Couldn't anyone see that he was sorry?! No. Of course not, because Sasuke never appeared sorry for what he had done… that didn't mean that Sasuke _wasn't _sorry.

Before the distressed Uchiha knew it he was back in front of Naruto's house. His deep thoughts had kept him so busy that he hadn't even realized that he was heading in the direction of the residence. Sasuke could see a little light in the crack of the door and pressed a paw up against it. The door automatically popped open at the touch; Naruto had probably done that so "Bun-bun" would be able to come in. When Sasuke entered he kicked the door closed with his back paw, and he looked to Naruto's bed. There he found the blonde lying on his stomach, hugging a pillow to his face so that Sasuke couldn't see what emotion he had on. That didn't matter though; Sasuke was able to sense the mournful aura that radiated from Naruto. It filled the entire house.

-"What do you want me to do? Sit there as you use me like that pillow? I don't think so."-

Sasuke felt overly stressed from dealing with Kakashi, and he couldn't deal with being squeezed to death by the blonde. It would only put him under more stress, so he calmly plopped down on the floor where he was standing and gazed off, his mind and body growing drowsy from the day's events. One thing kept crossing Sasuke's mind even though he _tried _pushing it to the back, for it made his heart flutter a little more than usual: could Naruto really share the same feelings Sasuke had for him?

Drowsy onyx eyes rose to Naruto's bed again. They met with azure almost instantly, for Naruto turned his body to face the dog and watch him. The pretty blue eyes were now very red and puffy from crying, and the male's nose ran a little. The sight pained Sasuke to see, and what pained him even more was the fact that all of the crying Naruto had done was over _him_! It made him feel horrible, but it was proof that Naruto held some special affection for him! The only thing Sasuke needed now was for Naruto to take the action of _telling _him how he felt.

-"If you talk… I'll listen."-

Sasuke didn't know how long it took for Naruto to come and sit by him, but the blonde finally declined from his bed and sat by him. He twitched a little to having Naruto so close to him, afraid that his own emotions would cause him to act out again. That would be very bad in this situation right now; Naruto was upset and only wanted comfort, not his dog kissing all over him or humping him again! Despite the small space between the two Sasuke remained calm and continued to stare off in front of him, breathing steadily as Naruto slowly reached out for him. He flinched when he felt the first thing to be touched on his body was his rump, and he took a deep breath and exhaled noisily through his nose to keep himself calm and unmoving.

No matter how calm he appeared on the outside, however, his insides were itching to strike out at something. His heart slammed itself against his chest as Naruto slowly rubbed up and down his back very soothingly. The long, slow strokes began to relax him as the drowsy feeling returned to him and his eyes fluttered a bit, trying to keep from shutting because Naruto had not said anything as of yet.

"I-" Sasuke's ear twitched when Naruto finally made a sound and he snapped his eyes open to keep from falling asleep, so he could listen, "I'm… not as strong as Sakura-chan… when it comes to Sasuke… because… I'm afraid he'll hurt me again…" the poor blonde sounded so muffled and pathetic, and he sniffed a bit to keep his nose from running.

It crushed the Uchiha. Naruto was afraid of being hurt by Sasuke _again_. This was why he never came to Sasuke for anything personal… He couldn't blame Naruto; he was the one that had done wrong; he just hated having to deal with it!

"I'm afraid that he will push me away just as much as he had pushed Sakura-chan… That does show that I care more for myself than I do for Sasuke… but…" a form of liveliness filled Naruto's eyes again as he spoke more confidently, "but that's not going to be the case from here on out! Next time I see Sasuke I'll _make _him listen to what I have to say to him! Even if it means I have to break his legs to get him to sit and listen! How does that sound, Bun-bun? It's better than moping around, right?"

Sasuke's tail lightly tapped the ground and his doggy lips seemed to curve into a smirk.

-"Sounds like Naruto; extremely idiotic and it's as if you're trying to inspire someone."-

The azure eyes sparkled when Sasuke gazed lovingly into them.

-"But I can't wait to hear what it is, regardless."-

* * *

**Whoo-hoo! No cliffy! I'm terribly sorry that all of you had to wait so long! I'm very thankful to have readers that are patient with me on updates! I just hope that it doesn't take me too long to finish this story! **

**Preview to the next Chapy: So, Sasuke is supposed to deal with being in a dog's body for a little while longer. Maybe it won't be so bad! Or so Sasuke _thought_! Naruto sends Sasuke to the breaking point and it's not good! How much longer does he have to put up with this torture?!**

**Hugs to all who support me and my story! I love my reviewers!**

**Forever the BakaNekoSan :3**


	9. Bunbun's Problem

**Alright, I'm NOT going to stop this story! I'm just horrible at updates (mainly because of school), but I WILL finish this story! (only saying this because people have asked me if I have quit writing it)**

**Also, I'm very sorry that I've half-assed this story. I really didn't put much effort into it in the beginning, but I'm trying to improve and stop being so lazy with my writing. I'm really very flattered that so many people still thought it was great even though it really wasn't. Thank you very much. :Bow:**

**Warning: Humiliation of the Uchiha, more references to Naruto topping Sasuke, and vulgar moments, nothing huge in other words.**

**NOTE: For some reason '-' will not appear when it is solitary for my stories anymore, so my 'next-scene' areas are going to be bold 'OoOoO's from now on.**

**I hope it was worth the wait.**

**Enjoy!**

**Bun-bun's Problem**

"Ah… S-Sasu-ke…!"

One of the black ears resting on Sasuke's head twitched at Naruto's gasping voice.

_Damn… don't tell me I'm having another hot dream… I can't afford to have another one…_

Onyx eyes blinked open before his dream was able to complete itself before him the way it had done before and cause an unwanted heat. Just to be sure he was no longer dreaming he darted his drowsy gaze about Naruto's bed. His paws were sitting beneath his head – still very furry with no thumbs – and Naruto lay beside him, sleeping soundly underneath his blankets. There was no collar in sight…

The thought of the collar that Naruto had bought "Bun-bun" came to mind. Sasuke glanced around for the bag and found it lying on the floor by the bed. In one swift movement the dog was off the bed and had the bag in his mouth.

_Now… where to stash it so Naruto will never find it?_

"Uhn…! Sasu-ke…! It hurts-!"

What was that…? Was Sasuke being delusional…? Was he still _asleep_?!

In high hopes that he was possibly hearing things the Uchiha decided to drop the bag where it had been and leapt back on the bed, eyeing Naruto warily and taking in more details that he hadn't noticed before.

Whiskered cheeks grew rosy as a hot sweat rolled down the damp forehead and across the flushed area. Soft, moist lips were parted, panting lightly, but slowly let out a pained whimper.

_It's… it's not me who's having the hot dream…_

The dog licked his chops with desire biting at his self-control.

_Naruto's having a dream about me… while he's all sweaty… panting and gasping… he's-he's…_

"Ah! W-wait, Sasuke! I-I can't…! Mmm!" Naruto's entire face glowed in obvious arousal. His fists clenched around his bed sheets and his body quivered nonstop.

_Oh… my-!_

If dog's weren't supposed to suffer from blood pouring from their nostrils then Sasuke needed medical attention because as soon as he felt something trickle down and over his lips he glanced down curiously, immediately connecting his gaze with a few red splotches on Naruto's bed.

Naruto gasped out suddenly and gritted his teeth, nostrils flaring as he breathed roughly.

-"FOR THE SAKE OF MY LIFE NOT ENDING FROM A HUMILIATING NOSE BLEED, _STOP DREAMING_, NARUTO!"-

An abrupt jolt of Naruto's body caused the azure eyes to snap open and glance around worriedly. The blonde sat up and rubbed the back of his hand against his face and felt the sweat that had formed. A small blush was still visible on his whiskered cheeks and he seemed to be aware of this as well, placing both hands against them and gently rubbing circles in possible hopes that this would cause the blush to vanish.

"Ehhh…" he finally heaved after going into a state of consideration, "that was embarrassing…" Naruto gave the ceiling a funny look then unexpectedly lifted his blankets from his body and gave himself a quick exam. After another heated blush filled his cheeks Naruto let the blanket rest on his thighs. "_Really _embarrassing… I was turned on so much that I-"

Azure eyes glanced over to his forgotten dog and widened at the sight of blood trailing down the animal's face starting from his nose.

"Bun-bun, your nose is bleeding!"

_Naruto… was aroused by a dream… with __**me**! And he was so turned on that his-!_

The feeling that Sasuke abruptly experienced could compare to a waterfall pouring from his nose. A haze clouded his mind as the rush of embarrassed emotions built up and-

_THUD!_

"AH! BUN-BUN!"

**OoOoO**

"_Hey… Sasuke…? Are you okay?"_

The Uchiha's side was given a rough nudge, and the dog growled groggily. The voice sounded oddly familiar, but he couldn't place who it was.

"_Come on! Wake up! Naruto's worried about you!"_

-"Hm…? Akamaru?"-

"_Yay, you remembered me!"_

Onyx eyes slowly revealed themselves to the large, excited dog standing before Sasuke. Akamaru gave Sasuke's face a swift lick; a low growl and death glare was the Uchiha's response, making the larger dog back off in a form of understanding Sasuke's desire for personal space.

A low echo of Naruto's voice was heard and both dogs turned to the area it came from. Sasuke felt his body freeze when he spotted Naruto sitting in the next room with Kiba around a table. The two of them looked to be absorbed in the conversation they were having and appeared very serious about it too! What about him – _Sasuke_?! Was he just forgotten and tossed to the side as if he no longer mattered?!

Akamaru turned his attention back to Sasuke when he felt the atmosphere become murderous. The look in the Uchiha's eyes shot Akamaru's good-natured mood down to a nervous state. He questioned hesitantly, -"Is-is something wrong, Sasuke?"-

-"No."- His tone sounded too gruff for Akamaru's liking and the larger dog slowly backed off.

-"If-if you're upset about what Kiba's saying then I think you shouldn't be too angry with him. Many dogs go through the same thing, plus I think he's joking because he knows it's you."-

This lured Sasuke's attention back to Akamaru.

-"_What _is Kiba saying?"-

-"O-oh… you mean… you didn't hear?"- Akamaru avoided Sasuke's gaze. -"It's nothing important then. Like I said, he's just joking."-

Before Sasuke was able to threaten Akamaru to tell him what Kiba said the animal darted to the doggy door and away from sight.

_Damn dog… running with his tail between his legs like a coward._

Sasuke invited himself into the room to join Naruto and Kiba. When he picked up on the conversation he grew nervous.

"It's just something to think about, Naruto. It's not like you're killing him."

"I don't like thinking about it, Kiba! Doing something like that to an animal is cruel!"

Kiba rolled his eyes and caught sight of Sasuke. The dark orbs sparkled mischievously when meeting with Sasuke's and continued his conversation with a bit more teasing added to the mix, "Naruto, _normal _dogs don't have _nosebleeds_. Don't you think you should at least get him checked out?"

Sasuke's nose twitched involuntarily. Kiba was plotting something; he could practically _smell _it.

"Just because Bun-bun had a nosebleed doesn't mean I should take him to the vet."

"Come on, Naruto, you have to admit that Bun-bun has serious hormonal problems if he gets a nosebleed. What happened for him to do it?" Kiba made a sly smirk, "You weren't fondling yourself right in front of him, were you?"

"NO!"

The Uchiha felt a tingling sensation in his cheeks. Just the thought of watching Naruto give himself pleasure was arousing, so he was sure a nosebleed would ensue if he really did witness the spectacle.

"Then what happened? Were you watching porn?"

"Ugh! What makes you think it had something to do with anything dirty?!"

"Because that's what turns a guy on. He hasn't shown any other forms of arousal, has he?"

The pensive state Naruto went in did not sit well with Sasuke.

_Don't you dare mention anything else, dobe! This is already embarrassing enough as it is! Kiba knows who I AM for god's sake!_

"Well, he _has_ humped my leg, but that was kind of my fault…"

Sasuke wanted to die! It couldn't get any worse than this!

"R-really?" Kiba tried to keep from laughing his ass off at this statement, "And how was it _your _fault?"

The adorable, whiskered cheeks flushed in humiliation for the second time as Naruto mumbled, "I was posing while wearing Sa-! Uh, some underwear…" **(AN: Naruto was about to say 'Sasuke's underwear')**

There was no longer anything holding Kiba back. He was choking from laughing so hard. "So-so _that's _what you do in your spare time?!" Once his fit of laughter subsided he took a more serious tone, "Really though, Naruto, I think Bun-bun needs to be _fixed_."

Fixed.

_Fixed_?! As in, where they take a number of different sharp utensils against that certain area a man needs for _reproduction_?! Not that he was planning on this since Naruto wasn't of the female gender, but it would be hard for him to, well, get hard! Having sex would suddenly become a difficult task if he had to put a lot of effort to get into the mood!

Becoming a dog and having Naruto as his owner with Kiba as his advisor to everything on "pet ownership" suddenly became very dangerous in the mind of Uchiha Sasuke.

**OoOoO**

Naruto sighed as he thrust his front door open with a stiff Bun-bun in his arms. If he didn't know better he would guess that Bun-bun overheard his and Kiba's conversation and was able to comprehend what was said. The dog hadn't moved since they were over at Kiba's place.

Coming to his bed he sat Sasuke down and patted his furry head.

"Bun-bun… I don't want to get you fixed, but Kiba has a point…" Naruto sat down in front of Sasuke and tapped his nose gently, "so that means if you have one more nosebleed then I'll have no choice but to take you to the vet."

This was turning into a nightmare. What did Naruto do that _didn't _turn Sasuke on?! His dignity – and future sex life – depended on his self-control, so that meant no more cutting up with Naruto! That would be hard; _Naruto _was the one who started _everything_!

It was getting complicated for the Uchiha. He needed to get out of this body as soon as possible, but when was Kakashi going to yield to his wishes? All he wanted now was to tell Naruto how he felt; he was willing and ready, so what was Kakashi's deal? If it was the listening part then Sasuke had already done this! He realized that he had been wrong for his past mistakes, but he was also _human_ – despite the form he took now – and he did have faults – though he hated to admit it.

"Hey, I know what we can do to get your mind off of the vet! Let's put your collar on!"

Naruto reached for the bag sitting on the floor and hastily removed the collar from it.

_Shit! I should have buried the bag when I had the chance!_

Perhaps the agitated mood Sasuke felt became a little too evident because Naruto pounced on him, straddling his back roughly to keep him still while he wrapped the piece of leather around his neck.

-"Enjoy the time you have being on top every time, Naruto, because there **will** be a day that I get my body back and when I do your dominant days are **over**!"-

"Oh, be quiet, Bun-bun! It's hard enough putting this stupid thing on without you making a fuss over it!"

Though he hated doing so Sasuke waited for Naruto to clasp the leather strap together around his neck.

"All done, Bun-bun!" the blonde happily cheered while rubbing his hands against the back of Sasuke's neck, "Now you really are _mine_!"

A pitiful groan was heaved from the dog's throat at this and he hung his head down in defeat. -"Don't say things like that anymore, dobe, or I'll have a one-way ticket to the vet!"-

"Come on, Bun-bun. Let's play some before we go to bed!"

Since "playing" never worked well with Sasuke in the arousal area he decided to act as if he were asleep.

"You're no fun," grumbled the blonde while folding his arms over his chest.

_It's better than going to the vet to get my dignity removed._

Before Sasuke could even comprehend what was taking place, Naruto flipped him over and attempted to get a rise out of his dog. Too bad that this kind of thing would get the wrong kind of rise out of Sasuke!

The Uchiha snapped at Naruto's hand and darted off the bed and into the bathroom to hide in the tub. He didn't like acting this way towards Naruto, but if the consequence was going to the vet then he had no choice.

Naruto was disheartened as he rubbed his hand and gazed in the direction Sasuke had gone in. "Are you that mad at me, Bun-bun…?"

It was a lonely feeling sitting in the bathtub with no Naruto coming after him or calling for him. For as long as Sasuke had known Naruto - ever since they had become friends - the blonde had always been right on Sasuke's heels, calling for him… reaching out for him to stay…

-"I want you… to want me, Naruto…"-

* * *

**Okay, this chappy IS pretty short, but I hope it was good in any case.**

**Preview to Next Chappy: Naruto's doing the unthinkable to Sasuke! Why?! He didn't have another nosebleed! Fortunately someone comes to his rescue, but what Sasuke thought was a swift getaway turns out to be Hell for his emotions. **

**ANOTHER CONTEST: Anyone want to take a guess at who it is? I feel like it's really obvious, but oh-well. The winner, whether it be everyone or one person, will have the next chappy dedicated to them! Sorry, but I love having people guess at these things!**

**Also: I have a poll, so if you like polls then you should check it out.**

**Readers are amazing and Reviewers are adored.**

**Forever the BakaNekoSan :3**


	10. Fighting for Attention

**"Naruto's Pet" was the winner of the poll! That is why it has been updated first. It would have been "PP" if not for the poll.**

**This story is almost over. (Cheers in the background happily) Working two stories at once has been killing me! Balancing them and school work has been murderous (even though I SHOULD be focusing on my school work a tad bit more...).**

**Surprisingly the person that I thought would be easy to guess at in the contest wasn't mentioned but once! That's pretty amazing.**

**The WINNER OF THE CONTEST IS: XCynicalX! Congrats! And thanks for the reviews you have given me! :) They make me happy! :D**

**Note: Okay... Now it WILL let me use '-' for the scene changes... how strange... so now it's back to normal! For some odd reason...**

**Warning: Possible OOC-ness? Extreme pervy-ness on Sasuke's part! A hinted pairing, but only because of the Uchiha's heartache-ness! It's ?? with Naruto! Hmm... was there anything else horri-blay? I don't think so, so ON WITH THE CHAPPY!**

**Fighting for Attention**

Uchiha Sasuke's conscience mind took hold and woke him from his sound sleep to find that he was still in Naruto's bathtub. Every hellish morning after Sasuke had taken his dog form he always anticipated hearing a loud, excited voice yelling a "Good Morning, Bun-bun" into his ears, waking him to see that tender, loving face that jumpstarted his heart every time his eyes came in contact with it, but this morning was different; he woke of his own accord. The thought soured the pit of his stomach and caused an involuntary whimper to erupt from his throat.

Curling his body into a lonely ball Sasuke felt something come in contact with his nose and rump. He sniffed lightly at the object that touched his nose and found it to be the blanket he and Naruto slept with. As for the object he backed into…

The sour feeling in Sasuke's stomach melted away much too quickly at the sight of that adorable, whiskered face still snoozing with his body curled up next to the Uchiha. The bliss sent the dog's body to flip over so he would face Naruto, his doggy tail tapping against the tub as he did, making a rather loud "_thump, thump, thump,_" but Sasuke could care less about his tail this time. He nuzzled the crook of the sleeping male's neck with his snout, twitching his nose when a few strands of blonde locks caressed against it, and he inhaled the scent of Naruto's hair, immediately regretting it since the smell was like his personal stimulant and he became a little _too _happy.

"Mm… Sasuke…" murmured the blonde in his sleep, causing the dog to halt where he was and attempt to slowly pull back from his embrace. Naruto's arms shot out – as if predicting this reaction – twisted around Sasuke, and pulled him back against his chest. "I miss you…"

_Not another dream, Naruto. Not now!_

Before Sasuke could attempt pulling away his face was brought to Naruto's. His eyes widened at being so close so suddenly, and he panicked when the blonde's soft lips pressed against his doggy ones. How much more of this was he going to suffer before he could kiss back?!

Naruto's hands wrapped themselves behind Sasuke's furry head rather affectionately and combed through the raven hair. The human body drew closer to the animal's, transferring more heat over to him than needed, and it made his chest fall up and down very rapidly from panting so heavily.

A passing thought of pushing Naruto away with his paws was inviting, but one glance at the wounded expression on the whiskered face while he tenderly kissed Sasuke and it was no longer considered. The Uchiha sealed his eyes shut and slipped his tongue out and against Naruto's lips.

The movement of something hot and wet against his dry lips must have startled the blonde because he lurched backwards, hit his head against the tub in the process, and forced his eyes to snap open. The sight of Bun-bun in his arms and watching him with those onyx orbs that resembled Sasuke's so much that it was scary made Naruto twitch.

"Go-good morning, Bun-bun…" His body heated up in embarrassment at the thought of what he just did. This was the second time he had had dreams of the Uchiha in more than a "just-friends" way, and the horrifying idea of putting on a show of what his dreams consisted of to his dog was rather humiliating. At least the animal didn't understand what was taking place…

Or so Naruto thought. His face was suddenly bombarded with doggy kisses; Bun-bun's hot tongue covered his entire face in long, slow strokes that sent chills up the blonde's spine. "B-Bun-bun, stop that!" He pulled away from the animal and sat up in hopes to keep Bun-bun away from his face.

"_Your dog is really horny for you,"_ rang in Kakashi's comment from two days previously. This was the first time Naruto really gave the comment his full attention and serious consideration. If his dog really felt emotions for him then that was a really big problem! He snatched at Bun-bun's snout with his hand and pushed him back, his hand still holding tightly around his mouth to keep it shut so his tongue wouldn't be able to escape.

"Bun-bun, you need to stop with the-" Naruto was caught off guard when seeing his dog give him a death glare with those onyx colored eyes. A mental picture of Sasuke flashed before him at the sight. This glare reminded Naruto of the exact same look Sasuke would shoot him whenever he did something to annoy the raven… Covering up Sasuke's mouth would _definitely _annoy him. "S-Sasuke…?" the blonde whispered hesitantly and hopefully.

The Uchiha panicked. Why did Naruto suddenly say his name _to _him?! There was no way he could possibly put together that this dog equaled Uchiha Sasuke! He tried feigning stupidity to the name and cocked his head slightly, but felt his traitorous eyes give his shock away, blinking a little more than he intended to.

Naruto cupped Sasuke's face in his hands, still giving him a look of disbelief. He ran his fingers through the black coat of hair gently then snapped them back, burying his face in them. "What the hell am I thinking…? Sasuke would never…"

A mental sigh of relief was heaved by the Uchiha. He thought for sure that Naruto had solved the mystery of "Sasuke's-Strange-Disappearance" by a mere screw-up on Sasuke's part.

The humiliated and mournful, azure eyes connected with Sasuke's. "I'm sorry, Bun-bun… I just…" the glazed look his eyes had melted into tears as he whispered, "I just miss him… I don't like it when he's not here." He sniffled silently and rubbed his eyes of the tears, murmuring to himself that he was stupid.

Though Sasuke risked many things by carrying out this next move he performed it regardless. He took to a standing position – grabbing Naruto's attention at doing so, – placed both paws on either side of Naruto's thighs, pressed his furry chest against the human one, and nestled his head against Naruto's neck. This was the closest thing to a comforting hug he could offer in his state, but it was well recognized by the blonde; he wrapped his arms around Sasuke's shoulders and buried his face in the fur.

"Sometimes… I feel like you understand more than I give you credit for… Thank you…"

-

Sasuke knew it was too good to be true. He thought he had it great since he and Naruto had a moment of understanding one another – in the bathtub, of all places. Sasuke made sure that he kept himself from getting too excited when comforting Naruto, but _still _the blonde said it: _"Sorry, Bun-bun, but I think we need to see the vet. I want to ask them if it's normal for a dog to behave the way you do… it's kind of nerve-racking at how well you perceive and act towards things being said."_

The Uchiha growled at the memory of the comment while he struggled against Naruto tugging at his collar.

"Come on, Bun-bun, I said that I wouldn't get you fixed, so why are you acting like this? It won't be so bad!" Naruto gritted his teeth as he finally reached around the dog's body, picked him up in his arms, and was finally able to walk down the streets of Konoha with ease.

-"Maybe it won't be so bad for _you_, but what if they decide to go ahead and snip me of what I'm worth?! My life will be a living Hell all because of you and your stupid decisions, dobe!"-

Naruto made a sudden halt and Sasuke relaxed in his arms. Perhaps something flipped a switch in that idiotic head of his and made him realize that he was doing something _inhuman_ to Sasuke – or Bun-bun.

"Oh, hey, Hinata, I didn't see you standing there."

Or it could just be Hinata standing right there in front of h-WHAT?

Taking his attention off of the dobe Sasuke found Hinata standing at a distance from them at the front of the Hyuga residence. She filled the air full of lovey-dovey emotions when she recognized the voice calling to her was Naruto's, making Sasuke ill at ease.

"O-Oh… Naruto-kun, g-good morning!" she stuttered nervously when turning to Naruto, but eyed the ground in place of him. Her pale eyes glanced up to the dog within Naruto's arms, and she appeared curious, giving more confidence to her speech when asking, "What are you doing to your dog?"

Sasuke abruptly found his paws on the ground. He whipped his head up to Naruto, half expecting him to grab hold of his collar to keep him from "running-away," but there was no such action taken upon him after he hit the ground.

"I was going to take him to the vet," Naruto grinned to Hinata, which deepened her blush in turn.

The envious dog took a bite of Naruto's pants and pulled on them to take his attention from Hinata. -"Don't ignore me, dobe! At least grab my collar so I don't run away! You were taking me to the vet, remember?! I _should _be running away because of this!"-

"B-But, he looks to be in good health to me," replied the female in a form of calculation. Her gaze was glued to Sasuke as Naruto tried detaching him from his pants.

"Oh, well, he needs to be checked out for things like this," Naruto gestured to the dog's teeth being sunk into his pants and not letting go.

"He's probably just nervous that you're taking him to the vet…" The air Hinata gave off became tense and nervous suddenly. "Um, maybe you could let him calm down for a little bit… come inside and sit down to rest for a while, perhaps? I could make you some tea."

Sasuke sniffed angrily. _Yeah, right. I've watched Naruto for a long time and never – not even once – had I seen him drink tea!_

A grin surfaced on Naruto's face at the offer. "Sure! I could go for a rest after struggling with, Bun-bun, here. He puts up a rather hard fight!"

The two giggled to themselves at the statement and Sasuke felt his heart sink. Both of them looked to be so happy talking with one another though they rarely did it! Why… why did Sasuke feel like he had been abandoned?

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. He wasn't going to give Naruto up without a fight! This meant war! He didn't care if his opponent _was _Hyuga Hinata, he was going to beat her down and win Naruto's heart – dog form or not!

-

"D-damn… you… Bun-bun…" gasped the blonde as he collapsed in the hallway to Hinata's room with said dog in his arms. "Why… why did you have to… have to go and run laps around… Konoha so suddenly…?"

The dog lay limp in Naruto's arms, breathing rapidly from the sprint he made away from Naruto and Hinata before entering the Hyuga household. Maybe sprinting with everything he had wasn't the best idea; he really regretted it now because he could hardly move!

-"Pay me… more attention than… _her_!"- the dog grumbled between breaths. -"I'm yours… right? So… stop with the… "getting-close-to-Hinata-just-because-Sasuke-isn't-here" act!"- Sasuke nearly choked at the mouthful of words heaved and knew it was all for nothing since Naruto couldn't understand a single thing being said, but he was getting nervous about this, and as they say: "Desperate times call for desperate measures!"

"N-Naruto… kun…" gasped the Hyuga while making an attempt to stand up, "I want to show you my… room…!" Hinata's aching muscles gave way underneath her weight and made Naruto jump.

"Ah, Hinata, watch out!" He naturally shot out and grabbed Hinata before she hit the floor. "Hey, are you alright?"

Onyx eyes darted away from the sight of the two and growled low enough for neither to hear - not that it mattered if they heard or not, -"Okay, I can live with this happening… however-"- the dog dove into Naruto's lap as if to clam territory, -"Uchiha Sasuke does _not _give up that easily!"-

-

The two human bodied ninjas were finally able to pry Bun-bun from the blonde's lap after many tiring tries, and all three – being even more out of breath because of the struggle with one another – slowly traveled the rest of the journey from the hallway to Hinata's bedroom, well, _two_ of them traveled, _one_ was dragged.

"This… is my room," the female spoke a little hesitantly at first and still drained of energy, but her face lit up to the expression Naruto made to the pretty sight of her room.

"Wow, you have a really nice room, Hinata! It's much bigger than mine and everything's so neat and tidy!"

Onyx eyes rolled in the dog's head at the comment. _Your room would look neat and tidy if you actually __**cleaned**__ it, dobe_. His panting died down a little now, but his heart continuously beat against his chest when Naruto finally decided to set him down. _Ah, no! Don't let me go, dobe! I didn't mean it! Augh! I need a plan…_

Hinata giggled at the way Naruto was praising her room. "Is it really that great?"

"Of course it is! Even Bun-bun likes it!" Naruto grabbed Hinata by the shoulder and pointed to his dog. "See? He's already making himself at home!"

"Bun-bun" was too busy plotting to pay this statement – or the shoulder hold Naruto had on Hinata – any attention and only sniffed when hearing his "name."

Naruto eyed his dog and became worried when the animal only laid there with a thoughtful and calculating expression on his doggy face. First Bun-bun was all jumpy and clingy towards Naruto when he decided to get close to the Hyuga like he was at this moment, but this time Bun-bun wasn't doing a single thing. Was he pouting because he didn't have _all _of the attention at this very moment?

"Hmm… he's probably just acting like he's tired so I won't have to take him to the vet," Naruto teased, and he smiled when taking a glimpse of the doggy smirk that Bun-bun did very well; if Bun-bun hadn't heard Naruto before, he heard him now! Hinata would have laughed at Naruto's words, but she grew curious when her pale eyes happened to sneak a peek of the animal smiling very smugly as if Naruto had guessed correctly.

The abrupt silence driven by Hinata caught on to Naruto and he watched her worriedly when seeing her eyes form the Byakugan. "Hey, are you okay?" He wasn't quite sure why she had performed the Byakugan, but he was concerned about it. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing, Naruto-kun."

Sasuke craned his neck so he could see what all the fuss was about; they were making entirely too much noise for him to concentrate and he was ready and willing to growl his complaint at them, but when his eyes met with Naruto giving Hinata a tender, worried look and asking again if everything was okay while his hand lay a little _too _familiarly on her shoulder the dog felt his body jump up and his paws scrape at the floor savagely. Before his mind could grasp onto what his body had done Sasuke found himself between Hinata and Naruto, barking all the while of his displeasure at the sight.

"N-Naruto-kun, please keep him quiet! If father hears that a dog is in the house then he will be very upset!"

"Ah! Okay, I'm very sorry! I didn't know!" Naruto squatted down and held Sasuke's mouth shut with his hands. "Bun-bun, you need to be quiet! We could get Hinata in a lot of trouble if you keep on!"

-"Keep away from her and maybe I'll consider it, dobe!"- barked the dog once he got his mouth free from Naruto's hands. He would have continued his ranting and raving, but something caught his eye.

A few markings – darker than Naruto's normal skin tone – were etched into the blonde's hand. It was already healed thanks to the demon fox, but there was still a scar. The pattern of the marks looked all too familiar to Sasuke and he found himself recalling the previous night and how he had snapped at Naruto for petting him. Sasuke unconsciously licked the wounded area. -"Naruto… I didn't mean to… I'm... sorry."- Since the blonde couldn't understand his language Sasuke continuously licked at the area he had done damage to in hopes that his apology would catch on.

"Bun-bun?" Azure eyes diverted from his dog to his hand. "Oh! Do you feel bad for last night?"

Sasuke gave the most sincere look he could muster in this dog state and whimpered lightly – feeling his self-respect crack in two at doing so – to show Naruto that he was right.

Naruto gave Sasuke the sweetest smile the raven had ever received from _anyone_ and felt his tail wag in response to it.

"It's okay, Bun-bun, it didn't hurt that much when you bit me anyways, and it's practically healed now!" Naruto grabbed the back of Sasuke's head and pulled him to his chest, rubbing him up and down with both hands from bliss.

Fear of being turned on by the blonde was so far from Sasuke's mind at the moment – as was the vet – that Sasuke freely pushed Naruto from his squatting position to sit on the ground so he could lick the blonde's face easier.

"Okay, Bun-bun, I get it! You're happy that I've forgiven you, now stop!" the blonde failed at sounding serious and ended up giggling the part that was suppose to make the dog halt.

A loud "_thud_" was heard and both of the males turned to the area where Hinata had been standing only to see that the female had collapsed against the floor and now appeared to be in a daze with a slight blush filling her cheeks.

"Ah, Hinata, what happened?!" Naruto quickly shoved Sasuke off of him and made his way to the Hyuga's side. "Did you get lightheaded, or sick suddenly, or-or-"

The dog felt his tail – that had recently been waving back and forth ecstatically – droop to the scene drawing out before him. Something was beginning to click. Never – not even once – had it ever crossed Sasuke's mind that someone else had affections for Naruto other than him, someone that Naruto could possibly fall for. Sakura was way out of Naruto's league since she obviously had her eyes dead-set on Sasuke, but here was a girl that treated Naruto nicely and he did the same for her…

"I'm-I'm okay, Naruto-kun…" Hinata sat up and rubbed the back of her head where she had connected with the wall when she fell. "I just…" Sasuke jumped when her pale eyes attached themselves to his. "I just thought it was really cute how you and your dog act with one another, is all, and I slipped when I was about to laugh."

That had to be the stupidest excuse Sasuke had ever-

"Oh, okay, Hinata," the blonde gave a sigh of relief. "You had me worried there that you were hurt or something!"

_Of course __**Naruto**__ would be the only person to believe her_, thought the Uchiha while rolling his eyes, but stopped when the full effects of that mental statement hit home. Naruto was being taken away before Sasuke even had the chance to have him.

"Geez, you hit your head pretty hard. There's even a bump."

Sasuke flinched at the sight of Naruto grasping the back of Hinata's head and gently rubbing it; the female's face shown a beat red color at the action.

_That's it! I'll have to take him by __**force**__ even if it means going to the… __**vet**__!_

-

"Um, the tea is ready, Naruto-kun."

"That… that's great, Hinata, but… uh…"

Bun-bun had his body sprawled over Naruto's lap to keep him from getting up to do anything that dealt with Hinata; the blonde could no longer catch her when she fell or rub the back of her head if she hit something on the way down now! This wasn't Sasuke's master plan, however, oh no. It dealt with something much more risky than this and if he made sure everything worked itself out the way he planned it to then it wouldn't be Naruto owning Sasuke, but Sasuke owning Naruto!

"Okay, I'll bring the tea to my room then."

Phase one – neither ninja leaves the dog alone in the room – check.

"Neh, Bun-bun, do you like tea?" Naruto cocked his head in curiosity to his inquiry.

What a stupid question! Naruto had come this far and still didn't realize that Sasuke _couldn't_ talk?! Oh well… Sasuke eyed Naruto and gave a small exhale that could have answered either way, but meant it as a "yes."

"Okay, that's good, because I was thinking about giving you some!"

A ruffling of Sasuke's fur made his mind draw a blank. Naruto's fingers slipped just behind his ears and felt so relaxing against the spot when they massaged it. -"I love you, Naruto… I hope that I will be able to tell this to you in _person_ one day… but for right now… I guess that's the best that I can do…"- Sasuke raised his head up and gave Naruto's lips an affectionate lick – as affectionate as one could be when in the body of a dog.

Naruto felt his lips curl back into a smile at the contact. He leaned forward – puzzling Sasuke as to what he was doing – and gave Sasuke's snout his own little, sweet lick as well. **(1)**

For a moment everything seemed to freeze over. Sasuke's spine suffered from a prickly sensation, raising the hair that rested on his back, but everything else he was experiencing was… nice. His stomach was warm – as well as his face – his tail wagged, not just automatically – Sasuke had finally figured out how to do this motion on his own – and his heart fluttered in a way that didn't make him completely nervous.

The blonde chuckled before whispering, "I love you, too."

Well, Sasuke wasn't nervous before, but he was _now_! What if Naruto had somehow figured out how to decipher dog language?

"Sorry I took so long, Naruto-kun." It was Hinata's voice; she had come in before Sasuke was able to figure out if Naruto had everything put together or not! "I didn't want it to be too terribly hot, so I was waiting for it to cool down some! I-I hope you like it!"

Naruto grinned when Hinata set the tray down on the short table resting just in front of him. He watched as she poured his tea for him because he had a little… "problem" when it came to getting up to do things himself.

_Hmm… maybe I should just leave Naruto alone…_

The grin Naruto had plastered on his face spread at a thought and he decided to word this thought. "Wow, Hinata, you would definitely make one amazing wife to whoever marries you!" The dog and Hinata both flinched in surprise to this comment and glued their wide eyes on Naruto. "I mean, you have everything going for you! You're pretty cute, you're a bit odd, but very kind, and you handle that teapot nicely…"

_Okay, that's it! I was going to be nice, dobe, but __**that **__little remark draws the last straw!_ Sasuke glared at the cup that Hinata was still pouring tea into; she didn't realize that it was kind of full and was spilling over onto the table. _Phase two – girl comes back and gets Naruto's tea ready – check._

"Oh, w-well, uh, th-thank you, I guess, Naruto-kun. That's, uh, very nice of you…" Hinata's face reflected her embarrassment as she quickly placed the teapot down and grabbed a rag to wipe up the mess she made on the table. "Um, here's your tea, Naruto-kun…" The Hyuga held onto the cup shakily and brought it in Naruto's direction.

Sasuke lurched at the cup of tea, startling the female at the motion and causing her to drop the cup, which just so _happened_ to be directly in front of Naruto, so it covered the bright orange attire that he always wore.

_Phase three – Naruto's crazy, abnormal dog takes it upon himself to help get the tea – check._

"AH! BUN-BUN, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!" screamed the blonde at the top of his lungs. The tea wasn't _hot_, hot, but it was still _hot_!

The Uchiha gazed on with devilish intent as the unknowing blonde removed his soaked jacket from his body. His eyes locked on to the garment clinging to Naruto's body that couldn't be removed while in the presence of a lady, such as Hinata, and he mentally grinned something of unjust actions.

_Need I word my thoughts?_

Before Uzumaki Naruto knew what had hit him he yelped out when a force drove against the area between his legs. He didn't quite freak out until he eyed Bun-bun lapping at the tea stains on his pants. A rather awkward feeling since he wasn't accustomed to anything being between his legs. **(2)**

"BUN-BUN, STOP THAT RIGHT NOW! THIS IS EMBARRASSING!"

Poor Naruto gave it his all in trying to pry his dog from between his legs, but the animal refused to cooperate and move.

Sasuke wrapped his front legs around Naruto's back to keep from being forced off and found that it must have been a snug hold because Naruto couldn't budge him for all he was worth. He didn't see why Naruto was trying so hard to fight it though... this treatment obviously aroused the blonde…

_Oh, that's right… I'm a dog, so naturally he's going to freak out about this... damn. _Sauske wasn't expecting for Naruto to shower him with heated emotions because he was doing this as a dog, but he also forgot about the fact that _he was a dog_ and this was kind of a disturbing thing to do.

The struggle wasn't swinging in Naruto's favor and he had no choice but to ask for help, "H-Hinata, could you-" but as soon as he glanced up from his activities he found no Hyuga sitting before him. "WHERE THE HELL DID SHE GO JUST WHEN I NEED HER?!" The desperate male directed his focus back to his corrupt dog and felt a little relieved that he had a few layers separating him from Bun-bun. If not... there would be harder issues to handle...

"How about this, Bun-bun," he started with the calmest voice he could muster while pressing his hands against the dog's snout in an effort to keep him as far away as possible, "how about I take of my pants off since Hinata isn't here anymore and I give them to you?"

Bun-bun detached himself from Naruto's body at this statement and licked his lips happily. Even though Naruto appeared very embarrassed about this scenario, the Uchiha felt satisfied. He chuckled mentally when thinking, _this means_ _one_ _less layer that's separating me from my prize! _Just as Naruto had removed his pants from those delicate, tasty looking legs someone interrupted.

"So, _this_ was what all the commotion was about."

_Damn it! Someone always comes in when things are picking up for Uchiha Sasuke!_

The voice sounded familiar to Sasuke, but he payed it no mind thanks to his pissed attitude. It wasn't until he whipped around and locked with eyes that resembled Hinata's that he gave the person full recognition.

"Oh…" began the blonde rather mortified at who it was that saw him with his pants down – or to be more correct, _off_, "Hey, Neji… we didn't mean to be a nuisance…"

"Well," the emotionless voice rang out sharply, "you and your… _pet_ failed if that was your goal."

Naruto grimaced at the cold comment and quickly slipped his pants back on. "Uh… I guess this means we should be going now…" In one swift movement he reached for his drenched jacket and stood up to leave.

"Not so fast." The Hyuga stood firm in the doorway of Hinata's room, refusing to let the two exit. His pale eyes glinted with amusement when falling to the dog. "So, I've heard Uchiha has gone missing." Naruto visibly flinched, giving Neji exactly what he wanted. "You wouldn't happen to know his whereabouts, would you? The two of you _are_ best friends, so he would not think twice before telling you that he had an idea to mysteriously disappear, right?" Neji made an immediate halt of asking questions and feigned an almost-sorry expression. "Oh, that's right… I forgot that the last time this happened he _didn't_ tell you. Déjà vu, neh?"

Sasuke was more than ready to bite the shit out of Neji, and he came so close to doing it too, but Naruto intervened. "Shut the fuck up, Neji. You don't know what the hell you're talking about." His aura was so chilly that Sasuke felt his hair stand up on the back of his neck in response, but Neji remained very calm and collected.

"Oh, so that means you _do_ know where he's at."

The defeated expression on Naruto's face made it clear that Neji came out as the victor.

"Don't look so sad, Naruto…" Neji provided Naruto with a smug smirk, "I think Konoha is better off without him, and so are you. The friendship you two shared wasn't worth risking everything like you did back then."

"You don't know what you're talking about! You don't have a best friend, Neji, so don't act like you know how things should go for me and Sasuke!" With that Naruto shoved Neji out of the doorway and pressed on to the exit with Bun-bun on his heels. At first the dog was very pleased with how Naruto handled the situation, but hearing what Naruto had to say next made it feel as if he had dumped ice-cold water on him. "He's right... Neji's right, Bun-bun... It's not-"

-"Don't you dare say it, dobe. Don't you dare."-

"It's not worth it anymore..."

-

"Nii-san…"

The shy voice turned Neji's focus to Hinata, who was slowly drawing herself towards him. "What?" She fidgeted under his gaze for a moment and said nothing, but Neji knew what her problem was. "So, you noticed that Naruto's _pet_ wasn't some ordinary dog too, hm?" His lips pulled back into a smirk when Hinata's pale eyes widened a fraction. "Uchiha Sasuke missing? I think not."

* * *

**(1) Eh, I did this to my pets when I was younger, thinking that this would show them how much I care about them. I think if Naruto liked his pet as much as I did then he would do this. If you don't like the licking bit then you can just imagine that he kissed Sasuke's nose again.**

**(2) I had to do something like this because so many dogs that I have had has done this (something being spilled or not)! Such an awkward thing!**

**Okies! Evil chappy, I know, but hey, it's almost over! (YES!) Enh... don't worry about the whole 'Neji-knows' thing. It won't be too significant... unless I change my mind last minute. Don't get me wrong with how I wrote Neji. I love the Hyuga, but he really can be a jerk (mostly in the beginning), so I wanted him to be jerky in this story.**

**Preview to Next Chappy: Gasp! It's the event everyone's been waiting for! Sasuke turns back into a human! (yay) Will he be able to tell Naruto of his feelings? Or will he have to keep them quiet? How will Naruto feel about seeing him again since Kakashi had said that Sasuke was in love with the person he had been staying with all along? Hm... could he be jealous?**

**I love my readers and adore my reviewers!**

**Forever the BakaNekoSan :3**


	11. Reunion

**Wow, I really neglected this story! I'm so sorry, but I'm stupid and I keep working on other stories, so it's going to happen! You have to be a patient person if you read my stories!**

**Warning: A mean Iruka, but only for Naruto's sake! Um... possible corny-ness?**

**Enjoy! (I actually liked this chapy! GASP! A first!)**

**Reunion**

Hatake Kakashi walked down the street to Naruto's house with a prance to his step. He thought today was a blissful day as he pulled two small rectangular pieces of paper from a vest pocket and smiled deviously beneath his mask.

Oh, yes, this _was_ a blissful day indeed.

-

It had been a week since Naruto had spoken those heartrending words.

"_It's not worth it anymore…"_

Bun-bun's eyes flicked to the bed. A tan hand was resting over the edge of it. The blonde slept peacefully, but this wasn't what bugged Sasuke the most. Ever since that horrible day of taboo words, Naruto had been just _fine_… well, minus a couple days. But not even once did he mention Sasuke's name! He no longer had hot, sexy dreams where he woke up moaning! It was like he really put Sasuke behind him now!

Instead of mopping around the house or gazing teary eyed over a bowl of uneaten ramen, Naruto was out on missions – leaving _Sasuke_ to mope around the house all alone.

Naruto even had company every once in a while.

Kiba came over with Akamaru, but Sasuke was even more against talking with either of them than he originally would have been. The most eventful thing out of that visit was Kiba attempting to convince Naruto that Bun-bun was sick.

Iruka came one morning with an invitation to treat Naruto to ramen. They were gone for so long that Sasuke decided to rest on Naruto's bed and examine the outdoors; something he rarely saw anymore. Naruto wasn't a bad owner. He was just making himself busy to keep away from depression. Sasuke could sense a smidge of dreary feelings amongst the happy ones. Stars dotted the skies before Naruto came back that night…

Sakura came over for consoling since it was finally apparent to her that Sasuke was no longer anywhere in Konoha. That was enough to break Naruto's mask of happiness later that night and Sasuke got more emotion from him than he had wished for. All he wanted was for Naruto to talk about him nonstop again… that idea was nice and comforting to the Uchiha. By the next morning the blonde was fine with his mask of happy back on again.

Hinata visited to make sure that her 'nii-san' didn't hurt Naruto's feelings back on the horrid day. Naruto only smiled and had feel-good conversations with the female.

Kakashi came over to tease the blonde and Sasuke hoped for questions on his whereabouts to pop up, but Naruto kept his lips sealed on the subject.

And the last, but definitely not least visit was made by that all too arrogant and hurtful, male Hyuga. Just the sight of him caused Naruto pain. Sasuke didn't see much of it through Naruto's expression, but he could sense it. The conversation didn't last long between them. All Neji had to do was mention Sasuke leaving again and Naruto slammed the door on him. That night Naruto's mask broke once more, but that time Sasuke was afraid it wouldn't end. That morning he was still sniveling quietly into his pillow…

What hurt Sasuke the most was not being able to do anything for Naruto while he was like that…

"Mm… just one more bowl of ramen, please…"

The furry ear twitched, and Sasuke's eyes focused on his surroundings again. He watched Naruto toss and turn, but he ended up with his hand grazing the floor just like before.

Sasuke picked himself up and sluggishly wobbled over in a daze. The lack of sleep he got the night before when Naruto had cried so much was still getting to him. He stopped where the hand rested alongside of the bed and licked it comfortingly.

A giggle was heard and he directed his gaze up to a smiling, whiskered face.

"Good morning, Bun-bun!" Naruto reached around the dog and lifted him to sit on the bed. "Today will be a me-and-you day, so what do you want to do?"

Looking into those brilliant azure eyes pained Sasuke so much. They still appeared tired from the long night he had spent crying.

Sasuke searched aimlessly through the blue pools, spying a glint of remorse reflecting from them.

"Heh… I really wish you were Sasuke, Bun-bun…" The subject startled the Uchiha, but he listened on with interest and hopes that Naruto would be okay speaking it. "Some nights I would stay up wondering how it might have happened if you were. Maybe Sasuke went on his own made up mission after running away from Sakura-chan and met up with an enemy that transformed him into a dog… or he had a run-in with Ino and she performed some kind of Mind Transfer Jutsu with this dog's body and his…" Naruto laughed at that, but it was choked slightly by a whimper. "I could just imagine a dog running around in Uchiha Sasuke's body this very moment!" He laughed… as tears rolled down his cheeks. "He's just a lost puppy right now. That's all he is. A lost…"

The dog's ears flopped down against his head in worry when Naruto showed signs of bawling right there, but he held it in.

"I love him…"

Sasuke's ears snapped to attention and his eyes widened.

Naruto sniffed. More tears poured one after the other down his face.

"I love Uchiha Sasuke… I want him to stay put for once… to stay with me."

_Knock Knock_

The blonde was alert now and roughly rubbed his eyes and cheeks of the tears. He took a tissue from the box beside his bed that was nearing its end and blew to make sure his nose didn't run.

The Uchiha, however, kept his eyes locked on Naruto and only Naruto. How? How could he confess something like that while Sasuke was damned to the body of a mutt?! But what kept him so awestruck was the now plain and simple fact that Uzumaki Naruto loved Uchiha Sasuke.

"Oh, Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing here?"

The hair on the back of Sasuke's neck rose all at once. -"Turn me back into a human _now_, Kakashi, or I _will_ force the rights of a rabies shot upon you!"- He practically snarled at his sensei.

"I came to see you Naruto, but Bun-bun doesn't look too happy to see me. You must make him understand that anything threatening to a human such as a bite will force the rights of being put down upon him."

Sasuke snuffed the air incredulously. Could Kakashi not sense his extreme need for physical attention with his dobe right now?! He wanted to prove to the blonde that he did love him and no longer desired to be away from him for even a second. He wanted to prove this with his words, his fingers, his mouth, his-

"Here, Naruto." The man whipped out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to the puzzled blonde.

"What is it?"

Kakashi rolled his one revealed eye. "Oh, I don't know. I just picked it up on the side of the road on the way over here and thought you would like it." Naruto glared at his sarcasm and let his eyes fall to the ticket.

"'One admission to a little piece of _Heaven_. _Heaven_ _Hot_ _Springs_. Manager-' blah, blah, blah." Though Naruto spoke rudely of the rest of the print on the ticket his expression and voice held excitement in them. His eyes darted back up to his sensei. "THANK YOU, KAKASHI-SENSEI!" He jumped at the male in a hug and Sasuke growled enviously. "Ah, Bun-bun!" Naruto rushed over to the dog and hugged him as well. "I get to go to a hot springs! I get to go to a _hot springs_! I-!" Naruto froze.

"Something wrong, Naruto?"

Naruto forced the ticket back to his sensei's hand. "I can't. Not today. Even if I began packing right now I would end up a little late because it's so far away…"

"They will take you if you're late."

"But I told Bun-bun that today was _our_ day to spend time together!"

For the first time since the door was open to Kakashi, he set his sights on Sasuke. "I think Bun-bun will forgive you for running off for the rest of today and tomorrow. You really need a break away from everything and everyone for at least a day to relax… don't you think so, Bun-bun?"

Even though he hated to admit that Kakashi was right… Sasuke lightly thumped his tail against the floor to show that he approved while inwardly he moaned and groaned to having no Naruto for two whole days.

Kakashi forced the ticket back into the smaller pair of hands. "See? He wants you to go."

"But I can't leave him here all by himself! He'll get lonely…"

"You mean to tell me that some mutt like this actually gets _lonely_?"

"Of _course_ he does! Anytime I leave for a mission and come back he pounces on me, he's so happy to see me!"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to go into your _personal_ life with your dog. I was just wondering." Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. "I was going to offer to watch Bun-bun anyways. I can take him to my house right now so you can start packing without the blubbering good-byes."

Naruto's eyes lit up and he cheered on Kakashi's kindness. He turned to Bun-bun, who looked a little downtrodden to having his 'master' leave him like this. "I'll really miss you, Bun-bun!" He wrapped his arms around the animal's neck and squeezed tightly. "I'll see you when I get back!"

The silver headed male left with wishes of Naruto having a good time. The 'mutt' was right on his heels the entire way out the door, eyes directed back at Naruto waving good-bye.

The walk that they had going to Kakashi's place didn't happen. Instead the elder male teleported the both of them back to the house in a rush.

"We've got to do this fast, Sasuke."

-"What?"-

From within the same pocket he had withdrawn Naruto's ticket, Kakashi pulled another just like it.

-"YOU'RE LETTING ME GO _TOO_?!"- Sasuke couldn't hold in his excitement.

Finally, ever since that hellish day that he had made the stupid mistake of transforming into this beast, Sasuke would be able to see Naruto at eye level without having the blonde squat down!

"No, I was going to take Iruka with me, but since he declined my offer I thought of going with Naruto."

-"Go to hell, bastard."-

"Okay, the ticket goes with me."

-"Fine, I'll be… nice."-

"There, see? Sasuke saying the word 'nice' _didn't_ end the world… _Now_," Kakashi flipped back to serious mode, "I'm going to transform you back into a human, but I'm sure you already knew this."

Sasuke nodded eagerly.

"But there's a catch."

The eager nodding came to a halt. He knew it was too good to be true. There was _always_ a catch to anything that seemed perfect.

"Sasuke, I mean this. Iruka and I already talked this over and there is to be no sex on this little trip."

Of course. What else would he be limited from? -"Why do this? What's the point? Just to drive me to the edge then push me over it?!"-

"Iruka doesn't want you confusing Naruto at the very moment you see one another again. I lead Naruto to believe you are in love with someone else and doing anything romantic to him after he had this sitting in his mind for a few days would-"

-"He. Said. He. _Loved_. Me. Kakashi!"-

There was no reply. Kakashi seemed to sympathize with this, but he didn't show signs of giving in to Sasuke.

-"J-just let me tell him how I feel! Let me tell him the whole story! I'll apologize for everything I've ever done to hurt him, Kakashi, _please_!"-

The masked man whistled. "Uchiha Sasuke said the 'p' word… the world may very well be coming to an end…"

-"I… I want to hold him, Kakashi… I want to tell him… I've never wanted something this bad! I…"-

"Please… understand me, Sasuke. Iruka has good reasons to limit what you are allowed to do and say. You can't have sex and you can't speak of the dog jutsu or your feelings… If you talk about anything from these past couple of weeks it will have to go along my story of you staying with someone else."

-"_Why_?!"-

Scratching his head was all Kakashi could do. He couldn't possibly tell Sasuke the truth… that Iruka didn't trust him at all and didn't want Naruto to be with him…

"_He's just a kid, Kakashi! He's screwed up so much in his life, particularly when it comes to Naruto!" Iruka huffed angrily._

"_Like you said, Iruka, Sasuke is a kid and he's going to screw up every now and then, but I think he gets how much he has hurt everyone, __**particularly**__ Naruto."_

"_That's not what I'm getting at! These feelings you say he has, they'll be over in a matter of a couple years at most, and who's going to get hurt because of it? Naruto! You can't trust someone their age to 'fall in love' because they confuse 'love' with 'lust' which – I'm sure – is the only thing Sasuke feels for Naruto!"_

_Now Kakashi was riled up. "Listen to yourself! You haven't even spoken to Sasuke since he's come back! You can't judge him like this! He's sincerely sorry for what he's done, I __**know**__ he is. And I also know that he sincerely __**loves**__ Naruto."_

"…_**Fine**__, he can go to the hot springs with Naruto…"_

"_Thank you…" Kakashi pulled away from the table they were sitting at and made for the door._

"_But I want to set down a few rules for him to follow."_

_Kakashi halted and sighed. He was so close to getting away with letting the two teens have their freedom. He turned. "Okay, let's hear them."_

"_First of all, there is to be __**no**__ sex. Don't let Sasuke sway you with any threat or even plea if he comes up with one. He can't speak of his feelings for Naruto because we both know he wouldn't be able to contain himself if he did. And he __**cannot**__ let on that he has been Naruto's pet dog this entire time. He has to keep to your story of staying with someone else! I want you watching them the entire time they're there, Kakashi, and if Sasuke breaks any of these rules then you are to take him away from Naruto and transform him back into a dog for punishment!"_

"_Ouch, that seems to be a little harsh…"_

"_If you fail to do this then __**you**__ will have to live with no more sex from __**me**__."_

"_Now, __**that's**__ harsh. Not to mention uncalled for! Okay, I'll give the message to Sasuke and watch over them…" Kakashi eyed the man yearningly. "But I'm in the clear right now, so…" He slowly advanced on the younger male._

"_Ah, wait, Kakashi! I can't-! Not right now! __**Kakashi**__!"_

The masked male sighed as he gazed into the anxious, onyx orbs. His sex life depended on giving out orders and watching the two ninjas to make sure Sasuke didn't breach the demands made. Plus, Iruka was just doing what he thought was best for Naruto, and Kakashi couldn't argue against it. "I'm sorry, Sasuke, but that's the way it's got to be."

Sasuke growled. -"I'm not going to let Iruka and his stupid rules scare me away from Naruto!"-

"Okay, but if you go against his word then I have no choice but to transform you back into 'Bun-bun'. Do you want that?" Sasuke's eyes widened at the declaration, but said nothing. "Just wait it out for another day, come back and try to reason with Iruka; show him that you can take care of Naruto."

This didn't completely sway Sasuke's mind, but he sighed in defeat. The thought of being forced to spend another day in this flea infested body was too much to bear. -"I'll behave… and keep quiet."-

"That's a good boy." Kakashi rubbed the top of Sasuke's head happily and proceeded to form a couple of hand signs that looked exactly like the ones Sasuke had used to transform into the dog, but they reversed the effect.

In place of the flea-bitten mongrel sat the beautiful and near perfect body of Uchiha Sasuke. He looked around – happy to see color for the first time in what felt like forever – to make sure there was no longer a tail protruding from his body, felt of his head for fuzzy ears and face of a snout. As soon as he called attention to the collar wrapped around his neck, Sasuke tore it from his body and tossed it to the side, glaring it down like everything was it's fault. "That's all it took? A repeat of the hand signs?"

"Yes, but only Iruka and I know them. It's impossible to transform back without someone else that knows the hand signs. Remember those couple of weeks Iruka and I were gone way back before I ever showed you this technique?"

"Yeah, I thought the two of you ran off for a long honeymoon."

"First of all, we didn't get married, so you can't title it 'honeymoon'. That was when I came up with the dog transformation jutsu, even better than using the transforming jutsu to hide away from an enemy since your chakra is completely drained. The enemy won't be able to sense where you're at nor could he tell if it's you if they see an average looking dog with average signs of being a dog. Well, I got stuck in the animal's body and it took a couple of weeks for Iruka and I to figure out how to transform me back, but as you can see, we managed."

"That's great, Kakashi, can I go now?"

The elder male sighed. None of the kids really cared about _how_ things worked as long as they _worked_. Sasuke didn't use to be like this. Kakashi smiled. It was amazing how Uzumaki Naruto could change someone like Uchiha Sasuke.

"Well, you need your ticket," Kakashi handed over the slip of paper, "and a pack of clothes," he exited to another room and came out with a sack of clothing, "and, not to mention, a pair of clothes to wear right now." He held out a pair of clothes for Sasuke to put on.

The Uchiha flushed. Nudity was something he grew accustomed to after nearly two weeks of time, so he didn't even take in the obvious fact that he was bare when looking himself over.

Sasuke quickly changed into the long-sleeved, black shirt, green Chunin vest, matching black boxers and pants. He placed the ticket in one of his vest pockets, threw the pack of clothes over his shoulder, and started for the door.

"You better run fast if you want to get there before Naruto."

"Knowing the dobe, he's probably debating whether or not he should take ramen." Sasuke turned when pulling the door open, whispering an embarrassed, "Thanks," then he was gone.

-

Uzumaki Naruto looked up at the fairly large building meant to be the _Heaven Hot Springs_. The appearance was intimidating and Naruto wondered how he was going to cope for one whole day by himself. He shyly entered and showed the check-in lady his ticket. When she happily pointed out his room after giving him a couple towels he felt a little more at ease.

_This won't be so bad I guess… Just some time to rest and… relax…_

Those were the exact things Naruto had tried avoiding for an entire week. If he had free time on his hands then he would – no doubt – think about his missing best friend.

He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head back and forth before rushing into his room and dropping all of his things to the floor.

"Ah! I would have done better if I stayed home with Bun-bun!" He whined loudly and leaned up against the doorframe, kicking a towel that landed on his foot.

"'_Bun-bun_'?" Azure eyes flashed open to the voice; not only from the shock of someone else in the room with him, but _who_ it was in the room with him. "Don't tell me you've gotten so close to someone in my absence that you've degraded them with a pet name like _that_."

"S… Sasuke…" It was. Sitting on the floor in the middle of the room – as if waiting for something… someone – was Uchiha Sasuke with his trademark smirk etched into his face. His eyes were just as entrancing as Naruto remembered and they really did remind the blonde of his pet. "Sasuke…"

The Uchiha stood up only to come in contact with the floor once again when having a tackled hug thrust upon him.

"_Sasuke_!" Naruto wove his arms behind Sasuke's back, clutching onto the Chunin vest for dear life and gave a body breaking squeeze. "I missed you! You can't even _imagine_ how much I missed you!"

Sasuke fought for air since his lungs were being crushed. "Oh… I think… I can imagine…"

Suddenly the hug was loosened and Naruto was glaring daggers into Sasuke. The blonde beat against the Uchiha's chest hard enough to get the raven to ask, "What was that for?!"

"You self-centered bastard! You can't just leave without a single word! I was afraid that you tried running off again! I was crazy enough to think that you were somehow my dog!"

That statement got Sasuke to crack a smile. "You… you thought I was your _dog_?" Though he wanted to say how right Naruto was, he didn't want to spend another second in that fuzzy body. "Wait, since when did you get a dog? Is _that _where 'Bun-bun' comes in?" Sasuke nearly cringed at saying the name, never noticing how bitter it tasted as it rolled off his tongue.

"Yeah!" Naruto became cheerful at the interest Sasuke took in his pet. "I found Bun-bun with Konohamaru and his friends in an alleyway a couple days before I realized you were gone! He's a really good dog! A bit bizarre, but good!"

Sasuke twitched at 'bizarre'. He didn't see how he was 'bizarre' in the slightest!

"Hn, sounds like you really care about the mutt."

The whiskered cheeks formed adorable pink circles. "He has the same eyes as you… that was probably why I kept thinking he was you in a permanent transformation jutsu…" Naruto glanced up to the Uchiha. He didn't appear bothered or irked by any of this; he only watched on with intrigue like they were a couple of best friends that hadn't seen or caught up with one another in years. That brought Naruto to the question that had haunted him almost every night since Sasuke's disappearance. "Where did you go, Sasuke?"

Comparing Sasuke to Bun-bun didn't bother him in the slightest, but Naruto could tell that this question really frustrated the raven.

"I don't want to talk about it, dobe."

"_Why_?! Why won't you tell me anything? Why do you always have to be so-!"

Sasuke pressed a finger to Naruto's lips. The action sent a chill up his spine. To finally be able to touch Naruto like this… but he hastily waved the sensations away. "Because. I don't. Want to. Tell _you_… End of story, so stop asking."

The hurt expression Naruto gave Sasuke made him uncomfortable. His eyes darted to the one and only bed in the room and tried to… Wait! The _one and __**only**_bed in the room?! Sasuke frantically searched the room in hopes that he had somehow skipped over the other bed. When there proved to be none he sought after a couch… a chair, _anything_. The floor was too uncomfortable to sleep on; it was too uncomfortable to even _sit_ on! Well, he knew that neither of them would give up the bed for the floor no matter how comfortable or uncomfortable it was…!

"I get the bed."

"What?!" This riled up the previously depressed blonde. "No way in hell, teme! If anyone gets the bed it's going to be _me_!"

"What's this? Do you want to fight for it?"

A worded form of agreement wasn't made. Naruto playfully attacked Sasuke in another tackle. "Fine, if it's a fight you want, a fight you will get!"

"_I love him… I love Uchiha Sasuke…"_

Within seconds Naruto was pushed away.

The blonde gave Sasuke a worried look. "I didn't hurt something sore did I? Did you hurt yourself while you were gone?!"

Sasuke thought Naruto was about to spring on him to hunt down any form of injury on his body, but he held up a hand to halt him. "No, I'm not hurt. I just don't think… _physically_ handling this argument would be for my best interest."

"Then you _are_ hurt! If you weren't you wouldn't have a problem taking a challenge!"

"Check my body if you want. I'm not hurt."

Naruto was hesitant, but grabbed at the zipper to the Chunin vest. It was when he had it halfway unzipped that he gave in. "This is too weird! I'll take your word for it!"

A chuckle was Sasuke's first response made. It forced an embarrassed blush to surface on Naruto's face. "I knew you would chicken out."

The vest was stripped from Sasuke's body within the second of speaking the word 'chicken'. It wiped the smug look off the Uchiha's face right away and he stuttered. "I-I didn't mean for you to get indignant on me!"

Next, Naruto snatched at his shirt and forced it up to Sasuke's chin. "Maybe next time you'll know better than to pick on me! I hate it when you do…" He let go of the black shirt when seeing no signs of freshly made or healing wounds.

"…Do you even know _why_ I pick on you…?"

Naruto shrugged. "I thought it was because you didn't like me…"

The irony of it almost made Sasuke laugh. He straightened his shirt out and worked his Chunin vest back on his shoulders while thinking of a way to say it without exposing his feelings. "If I didn't _like_ you, I wouldn't even bother picking on you…" He stood up to think of some other competition they could have in place of sparring. "If anything, I do it because I like you."

The resounding heartbeats in Naruto's chest made it hard for him to give the smallest amount of energy or thought process to a response. He slowly pulled himself to his feet. Sasuke had his back to him, looking out at the hot springs.

"_He's probably just embarrassed because he really loves the person he's staying with…"_

That hurt. No one could ever understand how much Kakashi's words hurt that day. It was his fault. It was Naruto's fault for never telling Sasuke how much he loved him; how much he wanted to be that certain someone that Sasuke was to fall in love with.

Warm arms wrapped around Sasuke. His body stiffened out of pure reaction. "Naruto…?" The blonde rested his head against the back of Sasuke's neck, but said nothing. "What's wrong…?" Sasuke brought his hands up to rest them on the tan pair that held onto him snugly.

"Nothing…" Naruto was told that Sasuke wasn't going to talk about it anyways… "Nothing's wrong… I'm just glad you're back…" The Uchiha pulled his hands from around his stomach. Naruto felt like he had been stabbed directly in the heart at the motion, but Sasuke turned around to face him… and respond to the hug with one of his own. Sasuke's strong arms draped around his shoulders and tenderly pulled him closer.

And Sasuke held him just like that until Naruto was satisfied.

"Did you think of another way to compete for the bed?"

"Mm…" The two of them had broken from the embrace, but Sasuke kept one arm around Naruto's shoulders to keep the blonde – and himself – happy. The Uchiha pointed out at the hot springs. "I was thinking about having a contest of who could stay in the hot springs longer… sound good?"

"Not as action packed as I had hoped, but…" Naruto smiled, "I think it'll work!"

* * *

**Okay, remember how I said there was only a couple chapies left for this story? I kind of lied because if that were the case, the next chapy would be last, but there's still a couple more key things that will take place!**

**I'm not putting up a preview because the only way the next chapy won't get posted up is if I die. (knocks on wood) I have too many stories to write to die now! Hope that I won't die so this story will be finished!**

**I love my readers and adore my reviewers!**

**Forever the BakaNekoSan :3**


	12. Promise

**As you can see, I haven't died! I would have had this out a couple days ago, but I was spending time with one of my best friends followed by a day with my nephew! :D We saw "Wall-E"!! Definitely the best of Pixar's creations! (to me) So Cute! I recommend it to anybody and everybody!**

**This chapy was fun... but now I need to actually WRITE the next one... so it may be a few more days before you hear from me! The next chapy may or may not be the last one. I haven't figured it out yet.**

**HUGE Warning: OOC-ness (especially Sasuke. I know that he's almost 100 OOC in all of my fanfics, but it's hard to make him mean and jerkish, then when I do, people complain of his mean-ness... it's like a lose-lose situation! DX) _AND_ this chapy is the exact reason why the story's rated M. And none of you had faith in me... _tsk tsk. _Oh, and while re-reading it... it is kinda mushy-mushy (corny) at parts. I'll try harder in other fics NOT to make things so mushy-mushy, but I can't help my personality! It practically SHOUTS 'I-must-have-mushy-mushy-moments!'**

**Hopefully it's enjoyable!**

**Promise**

Sasuke condemned himself to Hell. Never – not even once – should he open his mouth to make a challenge _ever _again! Even Naruto would have done better than him! What was he thinking placing the challenge in a _hot spring_?! A place where people stripped down to nothing but a towel, and that wasn't the only problem! Sasuke was already hot enough when in Naruto's company, so what would fate have in store for him when he dipped his yearning body into boiling water?!

"Hey, Sasuke, are you done changing yet?"

Onyx eyes tried to be obedient and _not_ ogle at Naruto when seeing him in nothing but his skimpy little excuse for a towel. "Does it _look_ like I'm done changing?" Sasuke stood with his bare arms crossed over his just-as-bare chest. A towel was the only thing covering him as well, so he wondered why Naruto even bothered asking.

"Teme… When I asked I didn't know you were coming out!" Naruto happily scurried to the side of the spring and awed over how relaxing it looked. "Come on, Sasuke! We have to get in at the _same time_ or it won't be fair!"

The Uchiha rolled his eyes, but followed over to the edge of the hot springs. He was just enjoying the sight of Naruto acting like a spastic, little kid that was all excited about having his first hot springs trip.

Once he was at the water's edge he looked at Naruto as if to say 'I'm-here'.

"I'll count to three and we'll jump in!"

"You can jump. I'll just get in."

"You're _no fun_, Sasuke!"

'No fun' huh? Sasuke would show Naruto what 'no fun' was.

"Okay, one… two… th-!" Naruto squeaked as he was abducted by his waist.

Sasuke smirked as he held onto bare skin and a towel and thrust Naruto over the edge, quickly stepping in just as Naruto smashed into the surface. He tried suppressing a laugh at the severely pissed off expression Naruto had when he came back up, coughing and cursing Sasuke for 'double-crossing' him.

"_Hey_!"

The two of them jumped at the sound of an angered voice. They turned their heads to an elderly woman that wore a staff member's uniform.

"You kids don't need to be jumping in the springs like that! You will mess up something! Don't let me catch you at it again!"

"Sorry!" Naruto called after the fuming woman as she left. He whipped around to the chuckling Uchiha. "THAT WASN'T _FUNNY_! You got me in trouble, you bastard! Now they will suspect me of juvenile behavior for sure!"

Sasuke's brow rose skeptically. "Is Uzumaki Naruto saying that he _isn't_ a juvenile?"

Naruto got directly in front of Sasuke's face, something that unnerved and flustered the Uchiha so much that he almost made the smallest of pleasured noises.

"I know what I was like! I don't need you telling me anything about myself, but I didn't want anyone here knowing about how excited I can get!" Naruto glared Sasuke down and was winning since he rested his forehead directly against the Uchiha's. _Extremely_ close contact.

It really was getting unbearable sitting in boiling water with Naruto's body surrounding Sasuke's so he couldn't escape. His mind was clouding and the thought of throwing it all away – his agreement to not make a move on Naruto – was strengthened with every passing second.

Something slithered up Sasuke's thigh and he flinched. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU-?!"

His towel was snatched from around his waist at his shouting frenzy. Naruto pulled it from the water and held it as if displaying some kind of beautiful artwork.

"Would Uchiha Sasuke get out of the hot spring butt naked even though he risks being seen by staff members or worse… _teenaged_ staff members?!" Naruto darted his eyes over to two women standing near the entrance to their spring that looked to be around their age. The two obviously looked interested in Sasuke's looks and whispered to one another.

"_Hey_," Sasuke growled angrily at the women, "I came here to get _away_ _from_ stressful people! Get out before I talk to the manager!"

The two girls left, whining to each other, but Naruto only smiled. He waded up Sasuke's towel into a ball and tossed it back from one hand to the other.

"Dobe… what are you doing now…?"

"I'm wondering how far I can throw this towel before it unravels!"

The challenge was evident to Sasuke, but he was mainly concerned with climbing out of the hot spring with his hard-on bare and very visible to the eyes of Uzumaki Naruto and then have to come up with a lame or unlikely excuse as to _why_ he couldn't keep it down!

"You _idiot_, give it back right now!" Sasuke was glad the water rose up to his hips and was murky enough – even for him – to not see his arousal. He bolted for the blonde, who happily held the towel out to provoke him – like a bullfighter taunting the beast with a piece of cloth – while eagerly running away.

"Only if you can get it yourself!"

"Why you little bastard!"

"Hey, that's _your_ title! You can't rip it off and stick it on me just because you're mad!"

The Uchiha lunged for the towel, but Naruto waded it back up and tossed it to the other hand. Sasuke smirked and reached out for Naruto's waist, gliding his fingers softly across his skin. "Naruto…" He smiled at the shy and nervous emotions playing on the whiskered face.

"W-w-what?"

In a flash Sasuke snatched Naruto's towel from his waist and smugly wrapped it around his own. "Did you forget about your own towel, dobe?"

An expression of complete bafflement, then humiliation set in on the blonde's face. He couldn't believe he just thought something else when Sasuke touched him like that. Of course he was just picking on him again… He glowered at the thought then paused and smiled a little when remembering that being picked on by the Uchiha wasn't a bad thing… it was a good thing.

_I wonder if he picks on… __**that**__ person…_

Naruto sighed and wrapped the Uchiha's towel around his waist. He flinched when hearing _Sasuke_ mimic his sigh and turned his attention to the male that was sitting exactly where he had when the game commenced. "Something wrong, Sasuke…?"

"There are many things wrong in my world right now, but I'm wondering… what's wrong in yours…?"

"Oh, nothing…"

"Liar." Sasuke scowled.

"Then do you _want_ to talk about why you were gone?" Naruto met his scowl.

The raven turned his head in defeat and didn't speak another word.

It was silent between the two for a while. Sasuke watched the steam rise from the water; Naruto watched the clouds moving in the sky.

Surprisingly enough, it was Sasuke that broke the silence.

"I need to tell you something that I should have said a long time ago…"

Naruto felt nervous at Sasuke's tone. The Uchiha seemed hesitant about whatever he was going to say and that wasn't normally how Sasuke went about things. "If-if you don't want to talk about it, then you don't have to."

"No, this needs to be brought out into the open _right_ _now_ while I've got the nerve…"

"…Alright…" Naruto readjusted his sitting position fretfully and looked up to the Uchiha to show that he was ready to listen.

"…I'm sorry."

Those words seemed to cause a malfunction in Naruto's ability to willingly move. His hands and legs shook beneath the water's surface without his permission. He was so shocked by the words that he automatically whispered, "Ah… about what…?"

"For everything… for leaving you when I left to Orochimaru. For never acting like a real friend to you when I came back. For leaving you again… I'm sorry for ever hurting you, Naruto. For every _time_ I hurt you."

It was strange. Naruto felt so dizzy. His heart raced so fast he couldn't keep up with the beat anymore… His mind became a haze as he tried to… keep up with… the beat…

"Naruto? Naruto?!"

-

The first thing Naruto saw when he opened his eyes was two pools of anxious and worried onyx orbs hovering above. "Sasuke…? What happened?" Sitting up wasn't an option because the Uchiha gently – but firmly – pushed him back down.

"Don't move around so quickly right when you open your eyes. Give your body some time to catch up with you…"

A puffer fish expression fell on Naruto's face. His cheeks puffed out in dissatisfaction to Sasuke's lack of information, but the Uchiha playfully poked at one of the inflated, whiskered cheeks.

"T-teme… I asked you what happened!" The frustration he felt boiled down when his head decided to take a slow spin away from him. Naruto grasped onto his spiky head to keep everything revolving in the room at a standstill.

Sasuke chuckled lightly. "It serves you right for staying in the hot springs for longer than you could stand. That's what causes every typical idiot to pass out in the first place at a hot springs."

Naruto's wide mouth had opened to show his offense at being called a 'typical idiot,' but froze, calculating slowly and recalling the last events he could while in the springs. His body stiffened and he jolted up in surprise. "I did _what_?!"

Colors flashed before the azure eyes and Naruto slumped over against Sasuke for support, holding his head as if someone just made a hard blow against his forehead. "Oh god… I guess I did…"

"Did you doubt me? Don't move around so much and you will be fine." Sasuke arranged his arm around Naruto's waist, pulling Naruto's head to rest against him instead of him having to stress to hold it up. "I asked the staff to serve our room a couple bowls of ramen if you wish to-" He was no longer used as a support at the word 'ramen,' nor did Naruto look dizzy from the rapid action. For once, after the past couple of weeks, _Sasuke_ felt to be 'master' over his little pet. The blonde begged in front of him with large, azure eyes as to where the food was just like a puppy.

Sasuke smiled and pointed towards a small table with the steaming food resting on top of it. "It's over there, dobe."

It didn't take long at all for Naruto to inhale the food and afterwards the two sat in silence once more, giving Naruto time to start turning the wheels in his head.

There were clothes on his body… his bed clothes to be exact. Before he was in a towel, and now… He humbly looked down at his dressed body. "Did you put my clothes on, Sasuke?"

"Yeah."

Bliss filled Naruto's system. "Thanks… Mm… Sasuke… about what you said in the springs…"

Sasuke concentrated hard on the blonde on this topic. "Yes?"

"I… forgive you… for everything…" He smiled sweetly.

The shock was evident on Sasuke's face. "Just like that…? I'm forgiven?"

"Fine, would you rather I hold it against you for a while?"

"No, I'm not saying I don't want it, it's just… how _can_ you forgive me?"

Naruto went into a state of deep concentration. "Hm… remember how you said you picked on me because you like me? Well… I guess it's a similar thing. I really like you, so no matter what you have done to me… even though it still hurts when I think about it… you're back now, you've apologized… and I'm willing to forgive you. I've been willing to forgive you ever since the day you left for the very first time because I like you that much."

The Uchiha's throat became so dry he was afraid to utter a word, but that didn't matter. Naruto had rendered Uchiha Sasuke speechless.

Seeing that he had made things a little awkward, Naruto jumped to another subject that he intended to ask about. "So, who gets to sleep in the bed? We both must have exited the springs at the same time if I was out of it."

Unable to give a verbal answer, Sasuke cleared his throat in hopes to regain his train of speech and pointed directly at Naruto.

"Me?"

The raven nodded and gave a small cough.

Keeping an eye on Sasuke would prove to be hard with him sleeping on the floor. Naruto wanted to watch him and keep a tight hold on his arm to make sure he didn't escape any time during the night!

"Why don't we… _share_ the bed?"

"Absolutely not." Sasuke's voice was back at full throttle to the suggestion.

"What? Why not? You were fine in the hot springs with me, so why can't you share a bed with me? It's not like we would have to be right up against each other!"

The thought sent a thrilled shiver up both their spines.

"I don't want to."

'Sorry, sorry, sorry.' Even though Sasuke was sincere with his words of apology earlier he would forever be saying them to Naruto because of selfish statements like that. They stung and bit at Naruto's heart. He was beginning to wonder how much more he could take before he cracked and felt nothing for the rest of eternity.

"Sasuke." It was time to make a low blow.

"Don't argue, dobe. I'm standing firm with my decision."

"I was going to drop it… I want to know something else."

Curiosity got the better of Sasuke, so he raised an eyebrow in interest.

"When that person asks you to bed, do you refuse them?"

Sasuke's blood ran cold and his eyes flashed dangerously. "I told you that I don't want to talk about it!"

"What about me?! Does it ever cross your mind that I'm not _you_ and I _do_ want to talk about it?!"

"You think I don't _know_ that?!"

They stood and clenched their fists because of the other's stubbornness.

"I'll bug you about it all night if I have to, Sasuke."

The Uchiha huffed angrily. "Have you ever given thought to why I won't tell you? That maybe I'm afraid of hurting you anymore than I already have?"

"…No…" Naruto shamefully glued his eyes to the floor.

"Saying this… Naruto…? Do you still want to know?" Sasuke's heart ran rapid, hoping that he discouraged Naruto from wanting to know.

"…Yes."

That was the answer Sasuke was afraid of. He ran his fingers through his hair nervously and started. "I still refuse to tell you who it is, but…" He sighed, knowing very well that this was going to sting. "I am in love with him."

Hearing Sasuke specifically give the gender shocked Naruto and his eyes made a beeline to the male.

"And… I slept with him every night… even though I refused to do so a couple times… I would wake up with him curled up next to me…" He fought his lips from pulling back in a smile when recollecting the morning he woke up in Naruto's tub with the silly blonde asleep right next to him.

Naruto felt sick. The thought of Sasuke allowing someone else to sleep with him made his throat so tight and dry… and the thought of Sasuke… _really_ being in love with another person, another man, made his heart rip in two.

The silence for the past couple of minutes was unnerving to the Uchiha. Naruto sat on the bed, looking to be soaking it all in with a blank stare on his face, but… his forehead started wrinkling up with regret, followed by a downpour of tears without Naruto even having to give the slightest movement from his eyelids. "I'm… sorry…"

Sasuke was stunned to have _Naruto_ apologize to _him_. "Why…?"

"I…" Naruto glued his eyes to the floor and felt more tears drip down at the small movement. "I love you…" He pulled his legs up on the bed and pressed his forehead against his knees. Though he finally confessed to the Uchiha… he was too late. "I'm sorry… for… loving you… I'm… so… sorry…" Naruto wiped his cheeks, but his efforts proved useless when more tears fell. It seemed pointless, so very pointless to speak of his feelings now. The only thing driving him was his despair to at least tell Sasuke how he had felt for so long.

"Nn… Naruto…" The Uchiha's eyes were wide in surprise as if he hadn't heard the words 'I-love-you' before, but he didn't want it to be this way. He quickly crossed over to the bed and wrapped his arms around the blonde, roughly squeezing him in his own sorrow. "I don't want you to be sorry for something like that… I…"

"_If you go against his word then I have no choice but to transform you back into 'Bun-bun'."_

The color in Sasuke's knuckles drained as he gripped onto Naruto's back. He wanted nothing more to do with that beast's body, but Naruto…

"Please understand me, Naruto, I can't…" _tell the truth…_

"You can't return my feelings, I _know_!" Naruto pushed against Sasuke's chest to try and remove himself from the embrace.

"No! That's not what I was going to say!" Sasuke refused to let Naruto go and held on tighter.

"I'm sorry, okay…? I shouldn't have told you… You... you didn't need to know right now..." Naruto gave up the struggle and wiped his eyes again.

"But I'm… glad you did…"

"I'm not… I can't stand it… loving someone who loves someone else… I hate it. I hate feeling this way."

It shattered within seconds in Sasuke's mind. Naruto's words shattered _everything_, the rules, his agreement, the punishment; none of it mattered now, and Sasuke knew what he was in for the moment he caressed his lips against the blondes with passion.

Naruto's eyes bulged at the advance and flinched when he felt his back suddenly come in contact with the bed. His downtrodden emotions melted away thanks to the heat of the Uchiha's body resting directly on top of his with his hot lips and tongue tracing over the line of Naruto's mouth. "Sasuke… w-what are you doing…?" he was finally able to whisper under his breath, which picked up in speed as well as the drumming in his chest, when Sasuke pulled away to give the blonde air.

Just when Sasuke thought his dog days would be over… he had to go and mess it all up, and all because he could no longer take seeing Naruto hurting without him being able to step in and consol him and the fact that… he no longer wanted to be the reason for Naruto's tears.

"Don't say that you hate feeling that way. _Never_ say that again!" Sasuke trailed a kiss from Naruto's lips to his jaw line.

The blonde's body stiffened as he tried stifling a pleased sound from emerging from the back of his throat. "St-stop this, Sasuke! You… you don't know what you're doing!"

Sasuke pulled back and scowled. "I know _exactly _what I'm doing and I know what it'll cost me, but I don't care anymore. I'm in _love_ _with_ _you_, Naruto… so… stop fretting and crying… stop saying you hate the way you feel… because having you say that… is more painful than not being able to tell you how I feel… it's more painful than suffering one week without you… because if you hate it… then aren't you hating me as well?"

"N-No, Sasuke, that's not what I meant! I don't hate you, I…" The tingling sensation in Naruto's nose made him want to cry again, though he was told only seconds ago to stop. He didn't know if he should believe Sasuke's words… but he did. He raised his hands to Sasuke's face and gently brushed his fingers through the silky, raven hair, something he longed to do ever since the day he found these feelings for Sasuke.

The Uchiha reached up and cupped one hand within his own. "I want to show you so badly."

Naruto sniffed, brought his hands back to rub his eyes of the remaining tears, and put a large amount of effort into not bawling like a baby. "Show me what?"

"How much I love you."

The words sent a shiver up Naruto's spine and another one – though more violently felt – fell over his body when Sasuke slipped his hand beneath the bed shirt and slowly lifted it up.

"However, if you would rather I didn't…" Sasuke took notice of the hesitant expression hiding behind Naruto's blush, "then I'll stop." His hands slowed to a pause to wait for Naruto.

The blonde cupped Sasuke's hands within his and helped remove his shirt. The hesitance vanished from his face, leaving the nervous heat within his cheeks to be the only visible emotion. "I… want this… with you." Naruto darted his eyes from the tender onyx pair in embarrassment. "I… want _you_."

Sasuke's lips twitched back into a smile.

With permission given the Uchiha swiftly worked on Naruto's pants. Within an even shorter amount of time than it took to get the nightshirt off, Sasuke succeeded in pulling the bed pants and boxers from the warm, tan body. He wanted to feel the warmth of Naruto's body against his so much it pained him, but swore to himself that he would not be a pig; not this time, anyways.

He gently pressed his hand against Naruto's chest to lay him back down. His breathing picked up and grew heavy as he climbed on Naruto to straddle his hips. The small gasp Naruto made as the larger body pressed against his groin sent a chill throughout the raven's nervous system.

"Naruto… I _love_ you…" Sasuke wanted to make sure the blonde understood this, afraid that he didn't take him serious enough before. He rested his arms above Naruto's head and looked him straight in the eye. "I _love _you…"

Naruto's azure eyes sparkled to the words as he fondly gazed on into the onyx orbs. "I… love you too…" His unbearably hot cheeks heated up a notch and he feared the thought of passing out again.

The Uchiha bent over, his lips hovering right above Naruto's ear, and romantically whispered, "I _love_ you." After hearing the blonde swallow hard he kissed the soft earlobe, smiling when a muffled moan caught his attention. He lightly blew in the ear and felt Naruto's body jolt up in surprise. There were no muffled sounds at this, but a spine-tingling gasp.

Sasuke pressed his lips just below Naruto's ear and felt goose bumps already trailing up and down the surface. He lightly sucked the skin his lips touched and felt as though a small tremor vibrated beneath him as Naruto twisted his fingers against his back then painfully dug his nails into him when a set of teeth caressed the tan skin then bite down.

A hair-raising scream wailed from the back of Naruto's throat at the uncalled for pain that throbbed in his neck, but it soon calmed to a groan when Sasuke apologetically stroked the area with his tongue.

At the light lapping against his wound, Naruto felt his hips raise a little to meet with Sasuke's directly, yearning for attention to places other than his neck.

The hint was recognized and Sasuke placed a hand against Naruto's chest, smoothly running circles over the nicely toned body until he crossed over a perked nipple. Sasuke took the piece of flesh and rolled it between two fingers, holding in a groan at the pleased moan Naruto made.

It didn't satisfy the blonde long enough, however. He impatiently wrapped his legs around and behind the Uchiha and arched his back at the hard feel of Sasuke's member beneath his pants pressing against his own member. "Mm…! _Sasuke_!" He began panting heavily at the very little contact he was allowed to make since Sasuke's clothes got in the way. Naruto snatched at Sasuke's nightshirt to rip it off and tried the same with his pants, but Sasuke grasped his hands tightly.

"When they come off I won't have the willpower to hold anything back." Sasuke's voice was filled with caution and dangerous arousal. After Naruto seemed to understand this the raven seized his ankles without warning and spread his legs.

A gasp was Naruto's only retort to the action. He blushed violently at his body being completely exposed to Sasuke and his knees shook as a result.

Sasuke held up two fingers for Naruto to see: his pointer finger and middle finger. "Once you're comfortable with these then I'll let you remove my pants." His body desired for the bothersome clothes to be off at this very second.

When Naruto gave the okay by nodding timidly the Uchiha slipped the fingers beneath him and between his cheeks. The hot sensation of one finger delicately grazing over his entrance produced a moan from Naruto's lungs. The sound peaked in pain as the finger forced pressure against the tight hole and penetrated him.

Naruto fisted a handful of the quilt beneath him, squeezed his eyes shut, gritted his teeth, and breathed uneasily through his nostrils at the throbbing pain this caused him. He gasped and felt free from the bodily stress when something smooth lightly ran up his neglected manhood. He temporarily forgot the pain at the touch, mewling lightly and pushing his hips up to beg for more until the finger within him pushed in completely. Naruto hissed painfully and nearly cried out, but the smooth feeling – now recognized by the blonde as Sasuke's unoccupied hand lightly touching him – was back, gliding up and down the excited shaft with just enough pressure forced upon it to keep Naruto's mind from the torment he was going through.

The Uchiha commenced to add the second finger, having to be more forceful this time to widen the blonde's entrance and cringed at the agonizing scream made as a result. He tightened his grip on the burning member and pumped it roughly as he continued to press his finger further. He was growing more impatient with each second passing, wanting to buck his hips repeatedly at the mere sound of Naruto's voice crying out in pain and pleasure to his actions.

"Nn!" Naruto gasped when the two fingers were snatched from within him then harshly forced back in. He fisted the poor quilt again and heard a swift _rip_, but couldn't keep focused enough to realize that he had just ripped the blankets. "_Sasuke_!" He hissed and groaned as the Uchiha relentlessly thrust his fingers in and out of him to quicken the comfort level as fast as possible, bringing Naruto to his climax in the process and all over Sasuke's chest.

Everything but the hot throbbing within Naruto's ass and member stopped. Azure eyes snapped open to see Sasuke reaching for his hands. He pulled Naruto up and placed his hands against the front of his pants, exhaling in attempt to calm himself down even a _little_.

"Take them off now." The lustful desire almost broke into a groan.

Naruto's hands shook as he pulled down the pants and boxers as far as he could and watched Sasuke anxiously kick them off. The raven hastily stuck three fingers in Naruto's mouth, shocking the blonde.

"Suck. Now."

Naruto did as he was told and was rushed to lie down once more with his legs pulled to mount on Sasuke's shoulders before his poor, spinning mind had a chance to grasp onto what was being moved where and why; Sasuke was going too fast for him to keep up, and he felt to be experiencing a daze from the speed.

When Sasuke snatched his fingers from Naruto's mouth and exchanged the coating of saliva from them to his member it seemed to piece together, but as soon as the Uchiha pulled on Naruto's waist so that his cheeks rested against the throbbing hard-on everything came to a breathtaking crash in the no-longer-confused mind of Uzumaki Naruto. He clenched his teeth and rewrapped his fingers into the quilt, feeling his heart beat rapidly throughout his body.

Sasuke raced his hands from Naruto's waist to his cheeks and separated them far enough to fit himself between them. He glanced up to the prepared, whiskered face then squeezed his eyes shut as he heatedly pressed forward, welcoming in the overwhelming sense of pleasure that spread throughout his body and repeatedly bucked against Naruto, it felt so… fucking… good.

The blonde cringed and fought a scream as Sasuke came closer and closer to being fully within him. He curled his toes and dug his nails into the comforter as the sensations slowly altered to bliss and he gave a guttural moan, arching his body to each thrust Sasuke made, and passionately screaming the Uchiha's name when his thrusts came quicker and grew harder.

Again, the blonde climaxed. Sasuke groaned as his chest was doused with the liquid for a second time. He pulled out of Naruto and flipped the blonde on his stomach, panting nearly as hard as he was. He stretched the cheeks and entered with more prowess, grinding his hips down into the soft cheeks as he felt a knot forming within himself.

It was the most exhilarating – and exhausting – sensation Sasuke had ever experienced. The hot knot grew and grew until it finally released within Naruto, and from the sound Naruto made, he fell victim to a third orgasm.

After that, Sasuke collapsed to his side by the gasping blonde and placed a hand on the heaving male to rub comforting circles across his skin. He breathed heavily as well, trying to catch his breath and felt guilty for giving Naruto such pain. The thought of relaxing in the hot springs with him in the morning to help his sore body improve drove part of the guilt off his conscience.

Sasuke sluggishly moved to the head of the bed and pulled the blankets and sheets down so that he and Naruto could crawl underneath. He motioned for Naruto to come lay down with him and he was obeyed.

Once they had their breathing under control Naruto's eyes bulged at the mess covering Sasuke's chest and blushed his deepest. "Ah!" He quickly reached to the bottom of the bed with curious onyx eyes following his every move until he brought back the nightshirt Sasuke had stripped him of. He wasn't going to wear it anymore tonight, so he harshly rubbed it against Sasuke's chest in haste to remove the embarrassing liquid.

"Y-You should have wiped it from your body as soon as it happened! That's just humiliating to see since it's…"

"Yours?" Sasuke smirked at the fury rising in Naruto's expression and leaned forward to give his lips a soft kiss to keep him from exploding into a rage. It worked better than he thought it would, silencing the blonde until he wrapped himself beneath the covers by Sasuke's side.

"St-stupid bastard using his charm to try and sneak away from punishment…"

The word 'punishment' wiped the smile off Sasuke's face. He became thoughtful on the subject as Naruto nervously placed his head on the newly cleaned chest, snuggling lightly when Sasuke gave no arguments. Sasuke thought of the circumstances and how he was _definitely_ going to be turned back into a dog no matter what. Something needed to be clarified. "Mm… Naruto… I need to tell you something…" He looked down at the zoning out blonde – his eyes drooping down and his mouth opening to yawn – and quickly added on, "in the morning."

Naruto focused on Sasuke and watched curiously while he yawned. "What are you going to tell me…?"

"The truth to why I was gone and where I was…"

"You promise it will be the truth…?"

"Yes."

"And you promise not to leave again…?"

There was no answer and it worried Naruto.

"Hey, I asked you a-"

"Yes… I promise I won't leave you again."

That appeared to be the only thing keeping Naruto awake because he relaxed his head against the warmth of Sasuke's chest afterwards and spoke no more.

Sasuke heard Naruto's deep breathing before he drifted off to sleep himself. The feeling was so complete, so perfect with the blonde sleeping next to him and he thought that nothing else could compare to this.

_Too bad it has to end… If Kakashi and I could get through to Iruka… maybe it won't have to…_

* * *

**Nn. The lemon isn't as 'yay' as "Doctor Uchiha," but I didn't want it to seem as smutty as that since this is a story and not a one-shot. Maybe I failed... I don't know. Hopefully not. Everyone that wanted a lemon got what they wanted though! :D Maybe. Was it worth the wait in any case?**

**So, was it hot? Was it awkward? Did it suck? If it sucked PLEASE don't be mean about it! T.T It always feels like I'm being stabbed with a really pointy spork over and over again right in the heart when I get a review that CLEARLY says that it was bad! Go easy on me! I'm a softy!**

**Another MAJOR Warning! Extreme mood change for the next chapy. I won't tell you what kind though! And NO PREVIEWS!**

**I love my readers and adore my reviewers!**

**Forever the BakaNekoSan :3**


	13. Missing

**Mm... As I said before: MAJOR mood change.**

**Warning: OOC-ness, a couple lines of a person and animal that I'm almost positive the Naruto characters wouldn't know, so why did I put it in? Because it's more fun this way! And something causing pain in the heart... that's about all I can think of.**

**Enjoy! (There's definitely going to be more chapies than I thought since I'm already past the point where I thought it would be over!)**

**Missing**

Naruto felt his conscious wake from his peaceful night of rest, but groaned at the aching pain his body suffered with every small move he made. He blushed when noting the rips created in the quilt from his pain the previous night and the dried white splotch from his last climax. That would be something fun to explain to the staff members… perhaps he and Sasuke could make like Houdini and disappear before the staff had a chance to press questions!

That was an ideal thought, but first Naruto had to find the raven. He must have already gotten up because he no longer occupied his spot in the bed…

Though this left Naruto feeling a little uneasy he happily remembered that Sasuke _promised_ he would be there when he woke up.

With eager bliss pumping through his veins and motivating him to feel exuberant in finding Sasuke, Naruto bolted to the edge of the bed in hopes to see the Uchiha sleeping soundly on the uncomfortable floor since Naruto was… well, an awkward sleeper that tossed and turned… but there was nothing but the floor, the table that held two empty ramen bowls, and Naruto's sack of clothes.

Naruto dashed out to the hot springs to see if Sasuke decided to soak in the hot water after waking up; again, no one but the springs itself and sounds of a happy, chattering couple next door that fell on deaf ears.

A sinking feeling hit him, but he didn't want to believe what it was telling him. There was no possible way of this happening! What happened last night, it… it was special to Naruto and for something like this to happen…!

_It's not __**possible**__!_

"_Sasuke_!" Hope eluded the truth, which was slowly dawning on Naruto as he continued frantically calling for the Uchiha and looking around to make sure he didn't somehow overlook the raven. "S… Sasuke…" Like venom slowly pumping through the blonde's veins, comprehension set in, causing his body to quake involuntarily to it: Sasuke left him.

This hurt…

Naruto didn't even cringe when he roughly collapsed to his knees. The sickly feeling that washed over him caused more pain as his stomach lurched painfully.

This really hurt…

The tears flowed down his cheeks, showing that his blissful ideas of never having to cry over the Uchiha again were only childish notions.

He promised…

Hiccups surfaced in Naruto's throat as his heart pounded remorsefully against his chest.

Sasuke _promised_ him!

"Sasuke, you… fucking _bastard_!" Naruto fell forward on his palms, curling his fingers under to form fists and ignored how much his body screamed to the pain this caused him; it didn't hurt near as much as having the promise ripped to shreds right in front of his face like this. "You… _promised_ me you'd be here…! So… _why_…? _Why_…?" Naruto inhaled and whispered pitifully as the tears fell one after the other to the ground, "_Why did you leave me… Sasuke_?"

-

-"TRANSFORM ME BACK, YOU BASTARD!"- Sasuke lunged at Iruka in hopes to get his fangs around the ankles that just sailed past him, and he snapped. -"I _HAVE_ TO BE THERE WHEN NARUTO WAKES UP!"-

Though Sasuke's rage was at boiling point for being kidnapped, transformed, and brought back to Kakashi's house and he wanted nothing more than to rip, shred, and growl, the only thing he managed to do was whimper in worry about the blonde waking up without the one person who _promised_ he would be there.

"There's no point in trying to talk to me, Sasuke, I can't understand you."

It was all Iruka's fault – excluding Kakashi because Sasuke felt a little more forgiving to him, but not much, since he refused to be the one to transform Sasuke, yet he did nothing to _help_ now! The two of them had quietly snuck into his and Naruto's room and teleported outside once they had a hold on him. Then Iruka commenced in transforming Sasuke back into the beast's body so that it would be easier for them to handle him – but he still put up a fight, biting, clawing, and howling the entire way to Kakashi's house.

A bandaged up Kakashi – who was the one to carry Sasuke as punishment for refusing to follow orders – stepped in the room. "He said he wants you to transform him back… of course I translated in a lighter note and more politely." He tried at a smile through the mask, but it wasn't genuine.

Iruka said nothing while Sasuke rounded on his sensei. -"How the hell can _you_ act so calm about this?!"-

"A lot of self-control."

Sasuke growled and began pacing the floor. There was no way he could be calm or controlling of his emotions right now! This would count as the most horrible thing he could have ever done to Naruto… _promising_ that he would be there then suddenly disappear for the _third_ time… it was too cruel, he knew, but he really didn't have a choice in the matter! Even if he explained everything… that he was Bun-bun and had to put up with Iruka and Kakashi like this… it probably wouldn't make everything entirely okay between them… there would be a permanent void in Naruto…

_Naruto…_

-

It wasn't until the skies showed signs of growing darker that Iruka and Kakashi began to worry about Naruto. Sasuke wasn't worried now; he was hysterical! The entire time he was moving about anxiously, racing back and forth from the door to the two males that couldn't decide what to do.

-"You _need_ to go look for him!"- Sasuke was growing more frantic as the seconds ticked away one after the other. He glared up at the male that could understand him. -"What if he's hurt?!"- He heard a creak from the front door and darted back to it.

Kakashi sighed when hearing the frenzy of whines eject from Sasuke's mouth once he found that the sound was caused by the wind pushing against the door. "Iruka, Sasuke's right. We need to go and look for Naruto… He should have been back hours ago."

Hesitance crossed Iruka's face. "I'm really nervous about this too, Kakashi… Please," Iruka stepped forward to try and whisper so Sasuke couldn't hear him, "let me look for him alone. I'm sure I'll find him and if I do need help, I'll come back for you and Sasuke… but I want to do this myself, Kakashi…"

"What about Sasuke?" Kakashi used a normal tone of voice, to Iruka's dismay, and showed his disapproval. "Don't you think Sasuke wants to find Naruto too? I don't think it's fair to let you go then turn around and refuse the same opportunity to Sasuke because you don't want him getting close to Naruto…" Iruka's expression fell shamefully at that.

A furry ear twitched at the front door to the conversation and Sasuke sat perfectly still, eyeing the door, but paid close attention to Kakashi's words.

"This isn't about wanting what's best for Naruto anymore, is it?" Kakashi's eyes grew wild. "You're just being selfish with Naruto. Am I right?" The silence was all Kakashi needed to prove his point and he went on, "You can go look for Naruto, but if you don't come back with him soon then Sasuke and I _will_ go searching for him too."

Iruka teleported in a flash at the agreement, and Sasuke was in the room in seconds of the _poof_ sounding.

-"Why did you let him go look for Naruto alone?! You and I both know that we would find him quicker if all of us were looking, and when he does find Naruto he won't explain a single thing dealing with me!"-

"I know…" Kakashi rubbed the back of his head, regretting his decision now.

-"Why the hell is he like that?! Why is he being a whiney, horrible excuse of a 'parental figure' to Naruto, and why doesn't he trust me to be with him?!"-

Kakashi gave the questions thought before giving his own inquiry, "If you had to sit back and watch someone hurt Naruto time and time again – physically _and_ mentally – what would you do?"

Sasuke snorted and answered before thinking about the point of the question. -"I would beat the shit out of them."-

The elder male made himself comfortable in a chair and reclined to rest for a while. "Then Iruka is giving you some slack. He hasn't thought of beating you… yet."

This froze the Uchiha. The point of Kakashi's question finally clicked.

"Imagine how you would feel having to watch Naruto train his body to it's limits everyday he stayed in Konoha… and leaving you to go off and do more grueling training out in god knows where, worrying about him every second of the day because he's getting in over his head… and watching him go out on his very own mission to bring his friend back home in one piece… only to hurt when you see him come back to the village in pieces at that very 'friend's' hand… But when he finally succeeds in bringing his friend back… you can't help feeling furious because his friend does nothing; he doesn't apologize for what he's done, he doesn't thank Naruto for everything he's done… Even though Naruto has suffered the most from everything, everyone in Konoha who stood back and watched were hurt too."

It was dead silent. Sasuke never gave a single thought to anyone other than Naruto when it came to his betrayal of the village, but he didn't think that anyone other than the blonde would care. Even if they did, the only reason _why_ they did was because of _Naruto_, the one who pushed himself so much, opposed to Sasuke, the traitorous bastard…

-"So… he's never going to forgive me because of that…"-

Kakashi readjusted himself. "I don't think this is entirely about forgiveness, Sasuke. I think it's more about Naruto's happiness… Iruka doesn't see you as the type of person that would stay committed to someone… he thinks you'll get tired of Naruto and leave him for someone 'better' one day… but I think there's more to it than that." He watched as the animal's curiosity showed through his expression. "I think Iruka doesn't want to lose Naruto to you. Iruka _is_ like a father to Naruto, so can you blame him for wanting to protect him and treat him as if he was still a child?"

The more Kakashi talked on about Iruka the more Sasuke understood, but it still didn't justify Iruka's reasoning of doing this to him. Iruka could what he wanted; he could beat Sasuke, he could try to kill Sasuke for all he cared, he could pretty much do anything but take Naruto away from him! If Iruka did any of those things at least it wouldn't be hurting Naruto!

Sasuke curled up on the floor to relax his stressing body. Sleep was impossible, but he was so worn down from worrying so much he had to rest even if it was for a few minutes. Within those few minutes his eyes fluttered shut and refused to open as he drifted off.

Never before had he dreamt of such horrible things in his life…

The first dream was Sasuke being condemned to live in the dog's body for eternity as Naruto's pet and watch the blonde live, get married, and have his 'happily-ever-after' without a single word about Sasuke.

The second was worse: Sasuke was transformed back to his human state and he told Naruto everything, about being Bun-bun, how Iruka and Kakashi had taken him away, and that he wanted to be with Naruto for the rest of his life. Naruto said nothing; he didn't even blink at the explanations and walked past Sasuke like nothing had been stated.

But the third nightmare caused Sasuke to wake up in a cold sweat with tears brimming his eyes: Iruka had come back from his hunt for Naruto… shaking his head and bursting out in tears, explaining later that he found Naruto's butchered corpse on the way back to the hot springs. The wounds looked to have been self-inflicted…

Sasuke let the tears fall and he sprung to his feet to dart for the window, seeing that the skies were lighting up a little. He sprinted over to the chair Kakashi slept in and pounced him, barking as the male opened his eyes while groaning. -"Has Iruka returned yet?! You haven't seen him, have you?!"-

Kakashi slowly pushed Sasuke from his lap and looked around in a bit of a daze. When he noted the window and saw that it was light out he bounded from the chair and was out the door in a matter of seconds with Sasuke trailing right behind him.

-

"Iruka?! Naruto?!"

Sasuke and Kakashi searched the entire trail leading from Konoha to the _Heaven Hot Springs_ and couldn't find head or hair of either male they searched for. When going to the manager of the hot springs, Kakashi asked if she had seen either. The woman said she saw the blonde leave yesterday at noon, looking to be upset about something and not saying a word when checking out, and she spoke to the brunette about the same thing sometime yesterday afternoon.

-"Kakashi, this is bad! We should have found them by now!"- Sasuke couldn't keep himself calm. His last dream had shaken him up so much that he couldn't stop the quaking of his body this very second.

"Calm down, Sasuke. I'm sure that they're fine. Maybe Iruka has found Naruto and decided to take him out for ramen to lighten his mood."

The two eyed one another and darted back for Konoha.

As soon as they were in the village they ran for the ramen bar and found neither of the males there. When asking if Naruto or Iruka had been there the old man said that they had stopped by about a week ago, but other than that, no.

Kakashi's patience with searching was beginning to run thin. The male fidgeted anxiously at the news and looked to be racking his brain for more ideas.

-"Hey, Sasuke!"-

"Sasuke, Kakashi!"

The animal jumped and spun around to see Kiba and Akamaru running for all they were worth towards him. As soon as they stopped Kiba tried catching his breath as he spoke to Sasuke, "I-Iruka-sensei said that-that Naruto's missing! Wh-Why aren't you keeping a better eye on him?!"

The mention of Iruka's name sent a shiver up Sasuke's and Kakashi's spine; he hadn't found Naruto.

"Where's Iruka?!" Kakashi quickly interrogated with a stern look plastered on his half revealed face.

Kiba breathed again, attempting to speak, but was only able to point towards the Hokage's office in his own hurry.

"Sasuke, stay here," was the command Kakashi gave the now furious dog.

Telling Uchiha Sasuke what to do as if he was an obedient, little puppy in a crisis like this was _not_ going to stand with him! He growled at the elder male as he raced off for the large building, but his growls turned to a surprised yelp when a rough tug was made to the nape of his neck.

"What the hell happened?!"

-"That's not important right now, Kiba! We need to look for Naruto!"- Sasuke was getting more and more anxious. Along with Iruka _and_ Kakashi helping, he couldn't find Naruto! Wasn't that a _bad_ sign?!

Another sharp tug on the dog's neck had him yelp again. "Yes it _is _important! I want to know what you did to Naruto!" Kiba had his breath back and he was angry.

-"I didn't do a damn thing to Naruto! Why are you accusing _me_ of being the bad guy?!"-

"Because you have _always_ been the bad guy."

Sasuke pulled from the grip, feeling very offended by the remark, but after he removed himself from the hold he saw that Kiba was serious. What Kakashi had said before reminded him that, to many people in Konoha, Sasuke _was _the villain. -"I'm _not _the bad guy this time. I just…"- He held his breath for a moment then let it go in one huff. -"I was allowed to spend time with Naruto as a human…"-

Kiba jumped the gun. "Really? How did that happen? _When_ did that happen? Is that when you hurt Naruto?"

The jumble of questions made Sasuke irritable, especially the last one, but Akamaru gave Kiba one good nip at the ankle to keep him quiet and commenced in wagging his tail when noting Sasuke's moody aura falter a bit at his action.

-"Kakashi transformed me back into a human the day before yesterday and I spent time with Naruto yesterday at a hot springs, but…"- Sasuke diverted his eyes angrily. -"I broke a couple rules I promised to keep with Iruka and got in trouble…"-

The look Kiba shot Sasuke was skeptical. "What 'rules' did you break?"

The Uchiha glued his eyes to the ground in embarrassment. Like he could admit that he told Naruto how he felt or the fact that neither of them were virgins anymore! -"I don't want to talk about it…"-

Kiba tightened his grip on the back of Sasuke's neck. It began stinging as a result. "If what you did caused Naruto to runaway, I swear, Sasuke, I won't have any regrets for what happens to you after everyone in this village gets a hold of you!"

-"Fine, I don't care what happens to me either, so let me go!"- Sasuke made a lunge away from Kiba, but the male snatched him back.

"I'm not letting you go until Kakashi comes back."

Seeing no way of getting away and wanting nothing more than to search for Naruto...

-"Damn it, Kiba, I _slept_ with him, okay?! Now let me go!"- Sasuke felt his face flush and the grip on the back of his neck loosened. He kept his focus away from Kiba and Akamaru, afraid of seeing their expressions and continued on, -"And for going against Iruka's word, he and Kakashi took me away from Naruto and transformed me back into this-this _thing_!... It was right before I had the chance to explain why I was gone… Naruto still doesn't know that I'm Bun-bun… and he's probably very upset that I left him again…"- Sasuke peeked at their expressions and twitched when noting that neither appeared surprised to anything he said.

-"…Have you tried following his scent? I bet you can find him that way!"- Akamaru happily wagged his tail back and forth at the thought.

Kiba perked up from his silence and nodded. "Yeah, Akamaru and I can help out with that! I can even go back home and get the other dogs and tell my sis and mom to help!" He was about to leave right there with Akamaru at his heels, but stopped short and turned with a smile. "You know, Sasuke, you weren't very modest with your feelings." His smile grew at Sasuke's still-as-a-statue pose with a faltering, stoic expression. "With the hints given you wouldn't need a detective to read how you felt about him." Kiba gave a friendly salute, "Don't worry, we'll rescue your damsel!" and ran off to get backup to help search for the missing blonde while Akamaru gave a good-bye of his own as he left and followed behind.

_Following a scent, huh?_

The more Sasuke thought about it, the more he loved the idea. He knew Naruto's scent as a dog all too well, and he was positive he could find the blonde in short order. Sasuke glanced down to the Hokage's office and gave a disapproving sniff; he wasn't about to wait for Kakashi to start his search.

With his nose pointing in the air, Sasuke snuffed lightly and was distressed when finding nothing that smelled even remotely similar to Naruto. Sasuke's head ran rapid with ideas of what to do now, and then a little light bulb went off: Naruto's house! No doubt, there would be a scent there that would start him off!

Running as fast as his little dog legs would let him go, Sasuke came to Naruto's home, but came to an abrupt halt. There was a group – consisting of Sakura, Ino, Tenten, and Hinata – standing in front of Naruto's door as if they were about to go in.

A passing thought of the female Hokage stressing out and telling everyone she could about Naruto's disappearance out of worry for the blonde crossed Sasuke's mind. Now that Sasuke thought about it… it did seem like quite a few ninjas were running around uncharacteristically. It was a good thing that there were so many people that were going to help, but at the same time, it was a bad thing… it meant that Naruto hadn't been found yet and that it would take many ninjas _to _find him!

Sasuke neared the house slowly, hoping that he could get around to the back to sniff around for Naruto's scent, but Sakura ruined it all.

"Isn't that Naruto's dog?"

The Hyuga in the group whipped around to Sasuke with wide, worried eyes. She ran over and quickly grabbed the back of his neck, dragging him behind Naruto's house. "Um, I'll be right back! I just have to, uh, make sure Bun-bun's okay since he's… been out for a while!"

The bewildered group of girls watched curiously as Hinata pulled the dog completely behind Naruto's house then shrugged to one another and continued to enter Naruto's house to search for any sign of him returning.

Hinata let go of Sasuke and questioned hastily, "Where's Naruto?! Do you know where he went?!"

-"What's the point in asking a dog this? Who am I, Lassie?"- Sasuke tried to move around Hinata, but she blocked his way.

"I'm-I'm not dense, Sasuke-kun. If anyone knows where Naruto-kun is… it's you…"

Onyx eyes widened at the female calling him by his name and snapped his attention back on her. -"H-How?"-

Hinata took in the shocked expression on the animal's face and quickly explained, "I knew you were a human because dogs don't normally have the same amount of veins that chakra travels through as humans do, but it was nii-san that found out it was you from your reactions to the things he said to Naruto."

It took a few seconds for all this to soak in and the embarrassment Sasuke suffered when remembering the events that took place that day – spilling hot tea on Naruto's pants, and, uh… etcetera, etcetera – was too great, causing him to suffer an extreme heated blush. He would have never done those things if he knew that Hinata and Neji were capable of finding out it was him!

"But, back to Naruto-kun!" Hinata rapidly pulled Sasuke from his humiliated state and threw him right back into the depressive one. "Where is he? You know, right?" Her hopeful and eager look was hard to let down, but Sasuke shook his head left and right. "W-What…? Y-You don't know where he… is…?"

Again, Sasuke shook his head. He glanced up and felt remorseful to see her in an unshakable fit of shock.

"I'll-I'll keep an eye out for him then…" Her voice became impassive as she stood up, gave Sasuke a little nod in farewell, and disappeared around the corner of Naruto's house.

At that moment it dawned on Sasuke that he wasn't searching just for himself. He was searching for _everyone_. Every person that Naruto knew and loved was hurt and concerned with his disappearance…

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, lifted his nose, and inhaled deeply, picking up the sweet smell of the blonde in doing so.

_Okay, Uzumaki Naruto… where the hell did you go?!_

-

Naruto stepped lightly, feeling so lost and abandoned where he was. There was nothing more anyone could do to hurt him… Sasuke could come back to him and he doubted he would feel a single thing… he had been so numbed by his hurt emotions when the raven took his third leave… and yet… he still had enough emotion in him to cry…

His tears dripped one-by-one down his whiskered cheeks and made a small _pitter patter_ when they hit the ground.

"_And you promise not to leave again…?"_

"_Yes… I promise I won't leave you again."_

Naruto could almost remember how happy he was when Sasuke said that… but it seemed so far off now… He covered his eyes with the backs of his hand and silently sobbed to himself. He collapsed and cried to his heart's content. Though he felt so hurt, so angry, so sick… he still wanted Sasuke… he wanted the old Sasuke, what Sasuke used to be… even though Sasuke hurt him so much, even back then, it was nothing compared to this.

He broke his promise.

* * *

**Eh, I ended it like this so you wouldn't think 'OMG! NARU-CHAN'S DEAD!'**

**No previews.**

**Readers - amazing; Reviewers - adoration.**

**Forever the BakaNekoSan :3**


	14. Truth

**Yay, thanks for all the reviews last time! It made me very happy! :D I'm just sorry that it took about a week to get this one out. Fourth of July was really busy and I had some real good bonding time with a friend I haven't hung out with in what feels like forever!**

**Whoo! Other things that I want to say just because I can: I'm slow and just found out that there's going to be a Kingdom Hearts game for Nitendo DS! (for those of you interested in KH games!) I'm spazzing as I type, but I'm very upset that they do not have a release date as of yet. (sigh) Now I wanna go play KHII... But I need to read a friend's book... grr...**

**Warning: Hm... possible OOC-ness again and... Lime-ish-ness.**

**Enjoy!**

**Truth**

Hatake Kakashi bolted through the doors to the Hokage's office to glimpse the scene of Iruka and Tsunade discussing the matter at hand before they were alerted by his abrupt presence.

"Kakashi!" Iruka was at his side in seconds. "Did you find him?!"

The masked man shook his head then glared down at the troubled teacher. "The agreement was that you come to me if you couldn't find him so we could search together, and here it is almost a full day since you left! What the hell are you doing, Iruka?!"

"I'm sorry!" Iruka shook as he crossed the room to the nearest chair to plop down. "I panicked when I couldn't find Naruto _anywhere_, and my first thoughts were to inform Hokage-sama about his disappearance!"

"Did you happen to tell her how this happened?"

"Yes." It was Tsunade that spoke.

Kakashi snapped his one revealed eye to the Hokage. "And what do you think?"

Tsunade turned her back to the male and watched as ninjas left the village to search for their beloved blonde. She exhaled roughly and spun back around to Kakashi. "I think that Iruka had the right to punish Sasuke for what he did to Naruto…"

Shock sent Kakashi into a frozen state; he only eyed the Hokage as if asking, 'are-you-sane?'

"However…"

The shock washed away from Kakashi's body at that one word and Iruka pulled his attention from the floor to focus on Tsunade.

"I do not believe that his punishment is fair. If anything, it's cruel. Sasuke isn't the only one suffering this, Naruto is too." She narrowed her eyes at Iruka. "You don't have the authority to assign such punishments; that is _my_ job." Her eyes snapped back to the silver-headed male. "Kakashi, find Sasuke and transform him back into his human state. As soon as we find Naruto, we will-"

"Hokage-sama!"

The three jumped in surprise to the unexpected slamming of the door against the wall and darted their attention to Nara Shikamaru.

"Yes, Shikamaru?"

"We think he might have come back to Konoha! We spoke with someone that saw him yesterday!"

They stood straight and alert, all three males looking to the Hokage for orders.

Tsunade spun back around to the large windows and looked out at the village. Somewhere out there Uzumaki Naruto was alone and very upset… She turned back to the males. "Iruka, Shikamaru, you continue the search for Naruto in the village, Kakashi, transform Sasuke back into a human then proceed to look for Naruto!"

They all nodded and teleported from the room, leaving a very shaken Hokage to watch them from the windows.

-

The little furry body that Sasuke had been condemned to for a second time was snuffing angrily at the ground. He had found a fresh scent of Naruto, meaning he had recently been in Konoha, and it was a few yards from the gates exiting the village. He sniffed in every direction, but there was nothing but that one spot.

_Damn it… he teleported!_

Sasuke darted his gaze about the area in hopes to see some clue that would lead him to the blonde, but he was unsuccessful in spotting anything of importance.

What he _did_ see was an infuriating figure walking his way.

-"Back off, Hyuga!"- He bared his teeth at the male when he came close enough to reach down and grasp a hold of his coat. -"I don't have time for your shit right now!"-

The Hyuga cocked a brow angrily at the growls. "Naruto is missing and Uchiha Sasuke would rather bury his nose in the ground?" He shook his head doubtfully.

-"Smartass! I'm searching for him harder than you are, but being stuck in a damn animal's body doesn't exactly give me the same privileges a human gets!"-

Neji shoved the riled up growls to the side. "I walked over here because I thought you would be interested in the fact that Naruto is in Konoha."

This statement froze the barking mad animal to silence.

"Shikamaru and I were about to leave the village to search for him when one of those little kids that Naruto adores told us he saw his 'boss' sneak in yesterday and teleport when he called out to him… he thought Naruto was acting strangely, but he didn't see it as anything to worry about."

Onyx eyes were wide and Sasuke's body felt stiff as a board, but the wheels turned slowly in his head.

_**Sneak**__ in…? __**Teleporting**__ when someone calls out to him…? Why is he…?_

A shiver ran up his spine at the memory of his dream and he bolted off.

"You're welcome," Neji spoke lightly as he watched Sasuke disappear behind a building.

-

"Damn it! Where the hell did he go?!" Kakashi furiously snatched the headband from in front of his eye, growing very impatient with Sasuke's disobedience, and flicked his gaze around with help from the Sharingan to locate Sasuke if he was in the vicinity; no such luck. "Sasuke!"

Kakashi darted off in search of the Uchiha. He couldn't blame him for running off since it was Naruto, but with this special order he was given it would make everything easier for the impatient male if he had stayed put! Why couldn't he just wait a few minutes?!

"Offph!"

The male tripped over something large and… furry?!

"_Sasuke_?!"

"Try again," spoke a rather annoyed voice.

Kakashi's bliss in bumping into a dog blinded him from recognizing Akamaru sniffing eagerly at the ground. "Oh, sorry, Kiba, Akamaru…" He started off then remembered something and twirled around. "_You_ were with Sasuke when I left for the Hokage's office! Why didn't you make sure Sasuke stayed where he was?!"

Kiba rolled his eyes. "You really think anyone would listen to those orders when their _friend_ is missing? I'm not about to baby-sit Sasuke while you take your time at the Hokage's office doing whatever the hell you feel like, and I know Sasuke wasn't about to wait for you either!"

"Right…" Kakashi looked around, anticipating the dog to jump out before him, but he knew that was only hopeful wishing. "Kiba."

"Hm?"

"Where did Sasuke go after I left? Do you know?"

A shrug was his only answer.

"Damn…" He was off again in search for the two teens. He just hoped that Naruto wouldn't do anything to hurt himself from his distress.

_I'm sorry I didn't wise up and do this before! Please, hold on, Naruto, and don't do anything __**stupid**__!_

"_We think he might have come back to Konoha!"_

_I wonder…_

Kakashi rounded a corner, changing his random course to an exact point.

_Is Sasuke going to be there too…?_

-

-"Naruto! NARUTO! I know you're in there! Open up!"-

Claw marks were etched all over the front door to Uchiha Sasuke's home. He no longer cared about the damage done to the house as opposed to before when Naruto thought of busting down the door to search for Sasuke; things had changed now.

-"Damn it, Naruto!"- Sasuke rammed his head against the door, hoping for the smallest of budges from it, but nothing. His mind was spinning; he didn't want Naruto to hurt himself. What if he tried killing himself?! And right there in Sasuke's house!

A sickly feeling filled Sasuke's gut. He wanted to tear up right there at the thought, but he smelled no blood… Right now the blonde was safe, but for how long?!

Sasuke ran around to the back of his house where he knew a window would be in his reaches to break through.

_Don't you dare hurt yourself over all this stupid shit, Naruto! If you do…_ Finishing the thought pained Sasuke too much to think of a complete statement.

He gave a huff when seeing the slightly higher window than he had envisioned. Estimating things from his previous height to this one was rather difficult, but he didn't stress over it, he merely backed up further when getting in stance.

_Naruto… you better not have a single scratch on you!_

In one swift gallop, the animal broke through the glass and landed roughly against the floor, cringing as a few pieces of glass embedded themselves within his already exhausted and weak body. -"Nn… Naruto…!"- He hastily pulled himself from the shards of broken and bloodied glass. His padded feet screamed in pain when he could find no way to maneuver around the mess and raced across it to find the blonde.

-"Naruto!"- Sasuke huffed, feeling his body pump his blood excitedly in an adrenaline rush and hurried to his room. His senses were failing him and he could no longer smell the blonde, throwing Sasuke into a fit of worry. He didn't want to see the gruesome pictures from his dream become lifelike! -"NARUTO!"-

The adrenaline rush came crashing down to an immediate halt when his eyes met with the image of Naruto lying on his bed. Sasuke quickly sprung to the bed's surface and pounced on the body, barking fearfully when the blonde didn't even flinch.

-"Naruto! _Naruto_! _NARUTO_!"-

Onyx orbs shot about in the animal's head, searching for any markings on the blonde that could prove to be self-inflicted… hell, he was looking for _any_ sign of injury, but he failed to find any.

"Mm…"

Sasuke jumped when Naruto slung one of his arms from his side to hide underneath the pillow he slept on, and then inhaled sleepily, his eyes fluttering a bit.

-"You… _idiot_…"- Sasuke licked one of the whiskered cheeks to help Naruto's conscience wake up. -"You were asleep right here the entire time…?"-

One of Naruto's hands pulled out from under the pillow and pressed against the dog's nose to stop him from drenching his cheek. "Bun-bun… I don't want to get up yet…" he groaned, still half-asleep. He received a booming bark in his ear and sat straight up, holding his ear and wincing. "What the hell?!"

Azure eyes took in his dog happily panting at his side and glanced away to keep from looking him in the eyes when remembering where he was: Sasuke's house. "Go away, Bun-bun…" He pulled the pillow over his head and dove back against the bed to continue his remorseful sulking.

_That_ hurt. To think that Naruto didn't even want to see Sasuke as Bun-bun! He drove his nose under the pillow and gave another throaty bark to grab the moping blonde's attention. To his amazement, it resulted in a fit of anger.

"I said _go __**away **_Bun_-_bun!" Naruto sat back up and hit the animal in the face with the pillow. "I just want to be _alone_!"

Sasuke whimpered at the stabbing pain in his chest from the glass. His black fur mixed with the small shards driven into his body proved to be hard to see even if you were looking for them, so his injuries being noticed by the upset blonde wasn't going to happen as he continued to hit the dog with the pillow, attempting to drive him off. -"Naruto."-

-

"So… both of them _are_ here…" Hatake Kakashi examined the claw markings on Sasuke's front door and its frame. He hastily rounded a corner of the home where the window to the young raven's room rested and peeked inside to not draw attention.

There, sitting on the bed, were both of the teenaged ninjas he had been searching for, one of which the entire village had been searching for and he wanted to knock a knot on the blonde, spiky head for worrying everyone like that, but instead he worked with his hands, forming hand sign after hand sign.

"Okay, boys… it's time to reveal the truth." With one last hand sign he smiled, "No more tears, Naruto," and teleported from the area.

_They deserve to be with each other for a little while before Sasuke receives a punishment from the Hokage..._

-

Sasuke forced his head to rub against the side of Naruto's neck, hoping that he would stop hitting him with the pillow and hug him back, but he just sat there, silently crying as he tossed the pillow to the side. -"Naruto…"-

"I want to be alone…"

Slowly, Naruto's arms rose to hang around Sasuke's neck and rested his forehead between the dog ears. The sniffs Naruto made became more frequent and louder.

"_But I'm… __**tired**__ of being alone…_"

The mutt whimpered and moved his head to lick the blonde across the cheek. His nose twitched in irritation and stopped. He glanced down at himself to see smoke billowing from him, and he panicked at first, but then, when he recalled what this meant, his tail wagged for – hopefully – the last time.

_Poof_!

The two males coughed and choked as the clouds of smoke engulfed the animal's body completely.

Naruto opened one eye, only to tear up when the smoke irritated it, but couldn't close it again when seeing a… _human_ figure sitting where his dog once was. He rapidly removed his arms from around the fur now turned to skin.

Raven hair stuck out in the all too familiar shape that Naruto teased to be a duck's butt. He gulped, and felt his pulse climb higher and higher when the smoke cleared to reveal the perfect and beautiful Uchiha Sasuke in all of his – the blonde blushed – nude glory.

"S-Sasuke…?"

The Uchiha coughed and smirked when looking up at the blonde. "I… _promised_ you I would never leave you… and I meant it!" His smirk faded and he grew nervous when Naruto bolted away from him and climbed off the bed's edge, never dropping his gaze from the worried, onyx orbs. "W-What's wrong…?"

Naruto's breathing almost stopped. He couldn't believe it! He couldn't-!

"Y-You were… '_Bun-bun_'?!" His tone was as soft as a whisper, but frantic and filled with panic.

"_I've never had a pet before!"_ The thought terrified Naruto.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "Unfortunately enough, _yes_ I was that mongrel given that humiliating name," but he felt relieved that Naruto wasn't angry with him… _yet_.

Azure eyes widened and his jaw fell slightly.

_Uzumaki Naruto_ took in _Uchiha Sasuke_ as a _pet __**dog**_! He-! He gave the Uchiha a bath, removed all his clothes and got in the tub with him, _and_ he bathed _every_ inch of Sasuke! He-he-!

Naruto's face burned red and he fled to the nearest place to hide: Sasuke's closet, and dropped to the ground in embarrassment when recalling 'Bun-bun' watching as he pieced through this very closet and the chest of drawers to try on the Uchiha's black boxers only to have the dog hump his leg!

The heat increased at that thought… Uchiha Sasuke was turned on by something like that!

Sasuke had licked him and comforted him whenever he was upset over his disappearance…

"_Your dog is really horny for you!"_ Everything Kakashi told him was replaying perfectly in his head. _"He's with someone that's taking very good care of him."_

"_Who? WHO?!"_

"_Someone that cares for him deeply and, in turn, Sasuke cares for that person too. He's quite happy actually."_

Naruto felt his eyes and nose sting. This entire time it was _him_ that Sasuke had been staying with, sleeping with, comforting…

"_Th-that's great, Kakashi-sensei… but __**who**__ is he staying with?"_

"_Sasuke doesn't want me to tell you. He's probably just embarrassed because he really loves the person he's staying with."_

It was _him_ that Sasuke loved.

Very slowly, Naruto pushed the closet door open to reveal that he was still sitting on the floor with tearstains streaking down his cheeks. He pulled himself to his feet when the Uchiha watched him worriedly, looking as if he were about to cross the room to comfort him, but Naruto beat the raven before he even had the chance to swing his legs over the edge of the bed.

Both of them were silent for a few seconds, but when Naruto diverted his eyes from Sasuke's to examine his bare body he finally took in the damage done to the Uchiha from breaking in, and it was no longer quiet.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU?!"

The blonde was gone in a flash after startling Sasuke and was back with a damp towel before he had time to word his response.

"I broke through the back window to get in…" He winced as Naruto lightly rubbed the towel over his chest wounds.

"Sasuke, you have _glass_ in you! Why didn't you just-"

"It's hard to get anywhere when you don't have thumbs, dobe."

"Oh… right…" Naruto retracted the towel when grazing over another wound with glass embedded in it. He gently pushed Sasuke to lie on his back – and just as gently – he began removing every piece of glass he could find, shaking a bit when a couple pulls of the shards made the Uchiha flinch and hiss. "Why did you hurt yourself like this just to get in…?"

Onyx eyes avoided azure ones. "You wouldn't answer the door… I was afraid of you hurting yourself…"

This seemed to bring offense to the blonde. "_Hurt_ myself?! You actually _believe_ I would do something like that?!"

Sasuke cringed when Naruto snatched at a deep shard from rage. "Don't _rip_ it out of me," he growled just as angrily. "And yes, I _did_ believe you were going to hurt yourself!"

"Teme… you think I'm that pitiful without you?" There was venom in Naruto's speech as he lightly grasped another sliver of glass, waiting for a response before pulling this one just to see how he should handle it: with care or without.

"Naruto. You teleported away from one of those brats that you _adore_ when they called out to you and you pushed 'Bun-bun' away from you, screaming that you wanted to be alone… There's something wrong when Uzumaki Naruto avoids the ones he cares about, hides, and _wants_ to be alone; something he never wants…"

The raven didn't even feel the shard tugged from his chest this time. He watched the azure eyes as their wielder worked slowly and tenderly. The expression on his face intrigued Sasuke. "Something on your mind?" Though he was positive there were _many_ things on Naruto's mind.

"Yeah…" Naruto's hands put the removing glass on pause and gently ran the towel over Sasuke's chest. "I still don't understand…" their eyes made contact and Naruto held it, but his voice had dropped a few octaves, "why you left me at the hot springs after… promising you would be there."

"I…" Sasuke felt his facial expression fall in frustration. "I broke some of Iruka's rules while at the springs…" Naruto gave him a curious look and was about to ask, but Sasuke continued before he could, "Those being: no spill of feelings and no sex."

The somewhat skeptical look on Naruto's face faltered into a blush when hearing the rules that were broken.

"As you recall, I broke both of those… and I didn't get the chance to tell you that I was the dog you have been keeping… That was another rule I was instructed not to break… I _was_ going to tell you the next morning, but Kakashi and Iruka were there. They knew that I rebelled against the rules and as punishment they dragged me away and turned me back into… 'Bun-bun'…"

It was silent again. Naruto seemed to be taking all the information in with an enormously pissed off expression playing on his face. His eyes lifted to meet Sasuke's again and softened.

"I believe you."

A smile stretched across Sasuke's face. "I would hope so."

Naruto made a genuine smile of his own. "So... how was it being 'Bun-bun' for nearly two weeks?"

"It was _hell_, dobe. I couldn't stand being that flea-bitten mutt for so long." Sasuke was irked that Naruto would even ask.

"Well, I'm glad you became a dog, even if it did worry me about where you were..."

"_Why_?"

Azure eyes grew playful as he relaxed his hands against the lower portion of the Uchiha's torso, grinning when he received a surprised jump. "Because I learned Uchiha Sasuke's weakness." The onyx eyes widened in fear and Naruto caressed the area just as he had when Sasuke was his pet.

"D-Dobe! Don't-!" Sasuke couldn't fight back the arousal as Naruto's fingers came so dangerously close to his true bodily weakness. Sasuke gritted his teeth as he threw his head back against a pillow and tried as hard as he could _not_ to moan.

"You know," Naruto continued the massaging motion as he spoke, making it hard for the Uchiha to focus on what he said, "Kakashi told me that when you were whimpering as a dog whenever I did this, to his ears, you were _moaning_!"

Sasuke's nostrils flared as he exhaled unsteadily. His pounding heart was given the opportunity to slow when Naruto showed kindness and stopped torturing him with his touches, but this supposed 'kindness' was only a mask. Sasuke's body temperature skyrocketed when the blonde's lips pressed against one of his chest wounds then he went to all the other wounds to give it the same treatment.

The smaller male pulled back and smiled, "There. I kissed them better," speaking in an innocent voice that only a child was allowed to use, but he pulled it off with such prowess that any child would be envious.

Though it embarrassed him, Sasuke loved this kind of attention from the blonde. He showed Naruto the scrapes his hands beared, hinting that he wanted to be delicately kissed there too.

The blonde's first reaction was that of worry over the cuts, but then he smiled, tenderly wiped the dried blood from Sasuke's hands, and pressed his lips against the wounds. He sat back up to witness the blush fill Sasuke's cheeks. "Anything else I could kiss better?"

Sasuke gave it thought. He rammed his head against the front door and - if he focused on the area - it stung slightly...

Naruto watched the Uchiha tap the top of his forehead before bending down and gently brushing his lips against the spot, pulling his hands up to Sasuke's head to comb his fingers through the raven hair as he gave the forehead one more peck. He felt Sasuke's arms wrap around his back to keep him from pulling back up and away from him. Naruto forced his attention on the onyx eyes. "Anywhere else?" he breathed hastily in hopes there would be.

The Uchiha took one of Naruto's hands and rested it right over his drumming heart. He smiled when the blonde gave him a puzzled look. "I think, out of all the places that have been hurt, this spot has been hurt the most and needs someone to help make all of the pain go away..."

There was little thought given to Sasuke's explanation. Naruto knew all too well that he was hurt repeatedly throughout his entire life and needed someone to help patch up the emotional pain. He grazed his lips over the area that held Sasuke's heart, feeling a large amount of heat enter his cheeks when hearing the Uchiha's breathing become unsteady once more. Naruto took more time planting this kiss, sucking against the skin to leave his mark on Sasuke. He pulled back and before he even had the opportunity to think of asking, Sasuke ran his hands behind Naruto's head and back, pulling him into a kiss.

Naruto couldn't take the heat of his clothes and unzipped the front of his jacket to toss it across the room. Sasuke let him break from the kiss long enough to pull the black shirt from his body then snatched him back down against him to eject his tongue into Naruto's mouth.

"Mm!" Naruto moaned and pulled himself up on top of the raven to feel his heat against his own. He made another bliss filled sound when a pair of hands worked hastily on the button and zipper to his pants, forcing his hips down against Sasuke's before the male flipped Naruto on his back and yanked the pants and boxers down and off.

"Naruto..." Sasuke's voice was filled with hunger.

This felt so good, knowing that there would be no punishment lying in wait for him for making love to the blonde once more...

"I love you..."

Naruto clenched his fists and flared his nostrils as the familiar pain of Sasuke entering him filled his senses. "I love you too."

"And... Naruto...?"

"Yeah?" The blonde panted uneasily.

"You..." he panted as well, "are my only real weakness..."

* * *

**And that's still not it, boys and girls. There's still unresolved matters at hand, though I'm sure you knew that.**

**Ha ha. Not quite a lemon, but I didn't feel so great at the thought of another slightly detailed sex scene. My brain feels like mush right now, so please forgive me. One's imagination would be great to use at a time like this. Lord, I've had to use my imagination for a couple fics, so I think that everyone else here can use their imagination! USE IT!!**

**Much love to everyone: readers, reviewers, and just people in general because I'm happy with the world today! (Because of KH-ness! X3) No one should DARE give me a bad review (unless it really was sucky to you, but still!) because I am in an extremely happy mood and anything negative will seriously crash it! DX I LIKE MY HAPPY MOODS! PEOPLE SHOULDN'T RUIN THEM!**

**Forever the BakaNekoSan :3**


	15. Acceptance

**Oh my... how long it has been... So sorry for the long wait. This chapy was actually finished (without the editing) a little over a month ago, but I was unable to post it due to personal issues. In short: my dad passed away about a month ago and it has taken time to get adjusted back to my regular typing schedule. I won't promise many stories after this one. Believe me, if I could write all of my story ideas for SasuNaru, I would, but I'm fixing to get a job and I highly doubt I will post much more after this little project. I'll try, but trying can only go so far.**

**Warning: The ending's a bit funny. Please accept it as it is. I was mainly trying to get a laugh from this when I was upset and I liked it and wanted to keep it. Perverted minds tend to kill a perfectly good ending. (No it's seriously not the end of the story; just the end of the chapy.)**

**Acceptance**

"Why the hell did you come back _without_ him?!" Iruka's voice boomed furiously throughout the Hokage's office, directed at the silver headed male standing before him – who had just spilled the information of finding Naruto and leaving Sasuke, no longer in mongrel form, with him.

"It was never stated that I bring Naruto _or_ Sasuke back with me once I had found them." The other's voice masked itself in calmness, knowing very well he was in trouble no matter what the orders _literally_ said – though he was contempt with what he had done.

"Iruka," Tsunade spoke to the male on the brink of hysteria from behind her desk, but kept her eyes set on the more composed of the two with an enraged scowl forming on her pretty features, "_I _will take care of this, so you needn't worry. Naruto is safe, though I cannot say I am pleased with the company he is in as of now, but I believe Kakashi can justify himself." Her brow raised slightly in question if this was true, or rather, would he try to make up an excuse.

Either way, Kakashi was screwed, and he knew it.

"I left them alone for the purpose of giving them what they wanted most right now: some time with each other to reach an understanding." Kakashi lazily rubbed the back of his head. "I felt that I owed them that time together since it was my fault to begin with by not transforming Sasuke back immediately." He registered that the Hokage was shooting him a quizzical look. "I thought it best for Sasuke to learn how much Naruto was hurting over him, past and present pain, but it seems that this method of giving one their own medicine was a mistake from the beginning."

"I agree." The words slipped from Tsunade's mouth easily and without thought or regret. Her eyes were narrow, glaring across at the traitor of orders, yet her lips curled up into a soft smile. "However, I do believe the outcome for Sasuke did him some good."

This brought a relieved exhale from the masked male. Maybe he was safe in this case.

"_Also_…"

There went the feeling of being secure.

"The punishment on him will not be severe at all. Just a small task to show I mean business when it comes to Naruto."

Another relieved exhale was given, followed by a pleasant smile when Iruka fell speechless to the decision, but he wasn't speechless for long – Kakashi's smile formed a grin to this and tried to suppress a laugh at the male's attempts.

"Hokage-sama, don't you think what Sasuke did is deserving of a little more than a 'small task' as punishment?!"

The light brown eyes fluttered as if bored with the topic now. "Iruka, I know your concern with Naruto all too well because I feel the same, but don't you think being turned back into a dog is cruel enough punishment as it is?" Tsunade rose from her chair and turned to the window, searching for the Uchiha residence where she knew more than just an 'understanding of one another' was taking place.

Squeezing her fists to keep in control she turned back and spoke more for herself, but for Iruka's benefit too. "It is called being a teenager. If I had to punish every one of the rebellious brats in this village for sleeping around I might go insane with all the paperwork needed to be made up and filed for it." That seemed to do the trick – her fists were no longer struggling against her will to break something.

Iruka looked defeated at the Hokage's apparent understanding. "How can you be so trusting that he will even go through with it? What if he decides to sneak off like he did with Kakashi?"

The smile lighting Tsunade's face grew dark. "Sasuke wouldn't have the nerve to go against what I say. Besides," her eyes sparked dangerously, "you two will be right by his side, every step of the way."

-

Sounds of gasping and panting filled the air, being the only thing Naruto could hear as of now - other than his rapid heart beats drumming in his ears. His lungs burned as he exhaled and inhaled rapidly to catch up with his speeding heart. Sasuke did the same, lying on his side next to Naruto with his forehead pressed against blonde spikes of hair. His breath tickled Naruto's ear and neck, but the blonde would no doubt pass out if he started a giggle fit over it.

"Mm… Sasuke…" he managed to breathe in a light whisper once the air capacity in his lungs seemed to hold strong enough to make conversation.

The Uchiha gave Naruto a critical look, as if to say 'you want to talk _now _after _that_?' but watched as Naruto's expression didn't falter and gave a small groan. "What?" He flinched at the light-as-a-feather touch Naruto's finger made across the base of his neck, making a low hum of satisfaction to the feel.

"What happened to the collar I bought for you…?"

That ruined the moment. Sasuke's eyes widened, and he blanched before color hastily resurfaced again, causing a dark blush. "_Dobe_!" His teeth clenched as the blonde burst in fits of laughter.

"You know," Sasuke quirked a brow and gave a smirk at Naruto's innocent curiosity once the laughter had been put on pause, "the whole time I was a dog, one thought raced through my mind almost daily."

Naruto watched with wide, inquisitive eyes, scooting closer to the Uchiha, which made the space between them nonexistent. "And what was that?" His cheeks filled to match the color in Sasuke's. "Was it how much you _loooove_ me?"

Onyx looked over the blonde hesitantly and the wielder smiled, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "Okay, make it _two_ things that raced through my mind almost daily."

What else could Sasuke have been thinking then? Naruto felt a little selfish suddenly – and sad – since the thought of not _always_ being on Sasuke's mind distressed him. Oh well…

"What was it then?" He asked poking out his bottom lip in a pout.

Sasuke chuckled at the cute expression, but quickly wiped it away with a serious gaze through half lidded eyes. "I was thinking about doing _this-_" Sasuke quickly forced Naruto to his back and mounted his hips to keep him from moving, sliding his fingers up and down the blonde's tummy roughly, smiling deviously at the roar of laughter that followed, "-ever since the first day you dragged me to your house as your pet!"

"N-N-_NO_! S-_SASUKE_!" Naruto gasped between shrill giggles and laughs. "STOP! THAT-THAT _TICKLES_!"

This motivated the Uchiha to keep probing over the soft skin to find more sensitive spots to tease. "I would _hope_ that it tickles! Otherwise I wouldn't have my revenge!"

"THIS ISN'T A REVENGE FIT FOR _YOU_!" Naruto cackled and gasped, making his words slur together in gibberish.

Sasuke understood regardless, reading the blonde's lips with his sharp eyes. He forced his hands under Naruto's armpits, wiggling his fingers about, and was welcomed to a new wave of laughter. "It may not be, but I think I enjoy this more than strangling you!"

After a couple minutes of tickling every sensitive spot Sasuke could think of – the given: stomach, sides, and armpits along with the back of the knee, his feet, ribcage, under the chin – he released the blonde, feeling that his couple weeks of humiliation had been paid off... Well, paid off in the best possible way.

He felt like a kid again. The adrenaline rush coursed through his body, making him excited – and not in a dirty way either. He was tickling, happily laughing along with Naruto's giggle fit, and grinning widely when he wasn't making a sound – three things that he almost never did.

It felt good to be with Naruto… just like this. It was better than he could have ever imagined. His imagination only went as far as the gutter, never touching down on the possibilities they could have together outside of the impure area. In a way he was glad he never anticipated anything like this. The surprise and thrill of it warmed him, made him elated like the cheerful kid he used to be once upon a time.

"Sasuke…?" Naruto panted, still getting over the hysteria from the tickle attack, giggling every couple seconds and beaming the largest grin Sasuke had ever seen on his face.

"Yeah?" It kind of surprised Sasuke that he was nearly out of breath too.

"Are you ticklish anywhere?"

The bright blue eyes sparkled in wonder and hope that the Uchiha wasn't afraid to shoot down, considering what the blonde would do.

"No. I. Am. Not." He didn't even want an attempt made at finding one.

Naruto pursed his lips and scowled at the raven. "That kind of reaction usually means that you _are_."

"And I'm telling you that I am _not_."

An imaginary line was drawn over Sasuke's abdomen, outlining the nicely chiseled muscles. Naruto smiled when Sasuke gave a couple twitches to his finger idly wandering over the sensitive area.

"Then why are we trembling over a tummy touch?"

"_Dobe_. As opposed to rubbing _your _stomach, rubbing _my_ stomach causes a little _more_ than what you desire." The serious tone in his voice roughly pointed out his emphasis on certain words.

The blonde blinked in thought then glanced down to where the blankets covered Sasuke's lower portion and smiled. "Oh, I got'cha!"

Sasuke covered his eyes with the back of his hand and groaned from the humiliation. Now Naruto knew for certain that this certain 'weakness' in his stomach was nothing more than a button you could press for an automatic arousal.

Naruto shoved his face in Sasuke's. "But how do you know that I don't desire _that_ as well?"

A chuckle escaped Sasuke's throat as he raised his hand from his eyes, gazing into the azure pools hovering over him. "Oh, I know all too well that you desire _that_," he teased.

"Eh? And how do you 'know all too well,' teme?" Narrowed eyes met onyx, teasing as well with a devilish smile spreading across his face.

"Well," Sasuke smirked and poked Naruto's nose, "it's not exactly kept secret since you get hyped up yourself." He motioned his eyes downwards to hint just as Naruto had.

"Heh…" Naruto hid his blush by pulling off of Sasuke and collapsing on his side by the Uchiha. "It's hard to keep some things secret."

"Literally."

Naruto poked Sasuke repeatedly in the side, giving a fake expression of anger as he stuck his tongue out. "Pervert." He moved to lay his head on Sasuke's shoulder and clung to his arm.

Lids fell over exhausted eyes as Naruto inched his arm to the Uchiha's chest, rubbing his fingertips across the pale skin in soft, small circles. He tensed when crossing over a rough area and craned his neck just enough to fill his eyes with the sight of a deep cut caused by the glass that Sasuke had injured himself on when barging in through the window.

Glancing up to the onyx eyes – which were already staring down at him in interest – Naruto noted that it brought the male no pain. He nearly snorted at the idea of Uchiha Sasuke getting hurt from a cut this size, but still… it concerned him.

He relaxed again, letting gravity pull his head back against the Uchiha's shoulder, but flattened his palm to keep from accidentally scratching at the wounds.

Sasuke kept his gaze pointed at Naruto, fondly smiling when he realized the blonde looked even more delectable resting his head against his shoulder and caressing his chest like this.

He closed his eyes, taking in the peaceful moment, how complete it felt, how it was never going to end this time, how he wanted to laugh in relief, how he wanted to hold Naruto and never let go, how – despite everything going in his favor and being remarkably happy about it – he wanted to cry. He bit down on his lower lip to keep the latter from happening.

The slow and heavy breathing caught Sasuke's attention. The sight of the drowsy blonde falling asleep – with his hand slowing to a lazy stop atop of his chest – brought a smile back to Sasuke's face. "Hey."

A finger prodded against Naruto's forehead, instantly waking the male, but he wasn't instantly alert. "_Whaaaat_?" was his cranky response, pulling away from the Uchiha to look him full in the face. "_What_?!" he sharply repeated when he wasn't answered right away.

"You're going to sleep?" Sasuke's eyes ventured to his clock. "And at two o'clock while it's still _daytime_?"

Naruto huffed in irritation, rolling over on his side away from the pestering male. "Sorry that I don't have as much stamina as the Great Uchiha Sasuke," he growled sarcastically and yawned. "I want to sleeeeep," he whined when another jab was made at his back.

"I wasn't planning on having more sex," the Uchiha half lied. "I was _going_ to ask if you wanted me to treat you to ramen, but since your 'stamina' couldn't even manage that, I guess-" He chuckled when the blonde practically flew from the bed to wrestle his clothes on before he even had a chance to finish.

"No-no-no-no! I can handle _ramen_! Let's go! Let's go!" Naruto spoke out of breath from fighting with his clothes, but showed that he was really up for it, pulling on Sasuke's arm for him to get out of the bed as well.

Onyx eyes glinted as they stared down at Naruto's appearance. It gave off the perfect example of the 'just had sex' look, his jacket not even zipped up and falling off one shoulder while the fly to his pants had been neglected, showing his boxers. The golden spikes, however, were the only true portion of just having sex – since the others were caused from being in a hurry. The locks of hair stuck out in more directions than the Uchiha thought possible, even for _Naruto_.

The raven allowed for Naruto to drag him out of bed, but forced the excited blonde to hold still. "I'm not taking you out looking like that," he stated simply.

"What?! Why not?!" Naruto yelled before squeaking when the raven's hand headed south on his torso. He flushed when noting that Sasuke was only pulling the zipper to his pants up and securely buttoning them. "Oh… I guess that's one of the reasons why…" he spoke sheepishly and pulled from Sasuke's reaches to fix the rest of his outfit himself.

-

Naruto cheerfully blew on his noodles that were hanging from his chopsticks and shoved them all in his mouth in one bite. He jumped on his stool and sharply inhaled, nearly choking on the mouthful of noodles before swallowing them carefully. "_Sasuke_," he softly hissed once he was sure death by noodles wouldn't ensue, "_stop it already_!"

Since the moment they had entered the empty ramen bar – other than the cook of course – Sasuke had been attempting every means of touching Naruto without alerting anyone's suspicions.

"_Stop what_?" Sasuke didn't hiss, but whispered to take Naruto on the same level of hushed communication. He quirked a brow to pull off the innocent act, but Naruto wasn't buying.

"_Stop __**touching**__ me_!" The hiss grew bitter and full of caution.

"Why?" The playful whisper grew to a serious tone and sounded slightly hurt at the suggestion.

Naruto stuffed his mouth full of ramen again to keep from answering right away. A thrilled shiver ran over the blonde's ribs, following the motions made by Sasuke's fingertips.

A quick inhale of surprise finally caused the inevitable to happen: Naruto gagged as noodles were sucked back into his throat.

"S-See, -_cough_- Sasuke? Th-that's why -_cough_- I don't want you," Naruto's voice dropped to an inaudible whisper when realizing the cook was busying himself near them, "_touching me…_"

A 'solid as a statue' expression was his first response. "At least tell me the truth if you're going to choke on your ramen over it." Sasuke's hand that had been doing all the touchy-feely motions pressed against Naruto's back and beat against the blonde to help him reclaim his windpipes from the noodles.

Naruto coughed one last time and studied his neglected bowl of steamy ramen that normally would have been completely devoured by now, but considering the circumstances… His eyes slyly slide over in Sasuke's direction to emphasis his point. The male eyed him anxiously, obviously hating that he had to be patient for a response – his fingers were now tapping out a tune that Naruto was sure meant 'hurry up!' on his back.

"Mm… uh…"

Azure eyes widened as his beautiful bowl was pulled to the other side of Sasuke as a means to force it out of him.

"Okay, okay! Give me back my ramen and I'll tell you!"

The stoic expression didn't falter, nor did Sasuke's hand pull the bowl back. "Tell me first then I may consider giving you back the ramen… _if_ I like the answer."

"Th-THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Naruto slammed his palms against the surface of the counter, fuming at the still nonchalant raven. He hurriedly pulled his hands back when realizing that he was receiving unwanted attention from the cook and who knows what kind of characters outside. "F-fine…" he growled once the spotlight no longer lingered over him. "I just… _feel weird with_ _this kind of attention in public…_"

The bowl didn't budge.

"What kind of 'weird'?"

"How should I know?!"

"Describe it."

Naruto folded his arms over the counter and did a face plant into them to cover his cheeks, knowing very well they would show his embarrassment to wording his feelings like this. "_I don't know, Sasuke… I feel… nervous…_ _What happens if someone sees us like this_? _They… probably wouldn't like it…_"

A hot surface met with Naruto's folded arms and he pulled back to see his steaming bowl of ramen in front of him again. Sasuke must have accepted the answer.

"So, what does this mean? I can only show affection behind closed doors?"

He may have accepted it... but Sasuke hated it as well.

Sasuke glowered, leaned over, and murmured, "_I don't think so_," in Naruto's ear, lightly blowing into it to prove he would do whatever he wished.

"_Sasuke_!" Naruto slapped his hand over his ear, face reddening.

"Don't you dare tell me to stop, Naruto. If you're so afraid of what everyone will think then why don't we go out and see?"

"What?! No! I didn't mean it like that! I _don't_ want to know how they'll react! I-" Naruto struggled to finish his sentence as he fell from his stool and was hauled out of the ramen bar by the raven. "Sasuke, you bastard, let go of me!"

An immediate halt resulted in Naruto running into the Uchiha's back. He rubbed his nose, fretting over the decision being made by the male.

"What do you want?!" Sasuke hotly turned on Naruto. "Are you hoping for a relationship that's only real when you're in the security of your home?! Are you thinking that everything will work out perfectly fine if we sneak around everyone to 'see' one another?! What happens when I want to take you out where everyone will know for certain that we were dating? Would you decline my offer to go just because everyone would find out?! I don't _want _this to be a secret, Naruto!"

The blonde flinched when he felt the wary eyes of the passing villagers stop on them. There was no doubt in his mind they heard everything Sasuke said; he was nearly _yelling_ his words out of anger, so it was hard _not_ to overhear what was being said.

"I… don't want it to be a secret either…"

Sasuke took a few breaths when hearing this, trying to calm himself, but sounded just as angry as he was before when asking, "Then what _do_ you want?"

"…Acceptance."

A feeling of understanding hit the Uchiha. The anger and doubt that were filling him to the brim were now draining away, leaving a slight chill of regret for yelling. "…Acceptance…? You want… _acceptance_…?"

"Y-yeah… is it a bad thing to wish for?"

"N-no… It's just that… the way you were talking… I thought you didn't want anyone knowing about it."

"Well… I don't have a problem with everyone finding out… _later_."

Sasuke took a moment to ponder what was making Naruto so anxious. "Are you worried about everyone's views?"

Naruto's eyes dropped to his feet. He had been found out. "Well… it's not exactly 'everyone's' views that I'm worried about…"

A curious expression fell upon Sasuke's face. "Then what are you worrying about?"

"…Tsunade and Iruka-sensei…"

Sasuke held his breath for a moment then let it go in one huff. He knew for sure that Iruka would not be the number one Sasuke and Naruto fan. He didn't know what to expect from the Hokage, but if she was as vicious about them having a relationship as she was with her job… she might kill Sasuke off just to keep Naruto away from him!

He took Naruto's hand in his and looked him straight in the eye and held out his hand. "…Let's go talk to them."

Naruto nervously licked his lips. "I… I want to wait a while! Let things cool down with Iruka-sensei at least!"

"I don't think that he will ever 'cool down' and the Hokage was never good at that practice either… If you wait any longer then it will only put this stress on you later."

"But I wouldn't know what to say!"

"I will do the talking if it will make you feel better." Sasuke felt his hand taken by Naruto's.

"Really?"

"They'll tear me to shreds either way, so why not?"

"Not funny, teme."

"I wasn't trying to be funny, dobe."

With a few more pairs of baffled eyes glued to them, Naruto and Sasuke casually walked towards the large Hokage building hand-in-hand.

**-**

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

Naruto shivered at the scorching rays of hate that Tsunade sent in Sasuke's direction as she tapped her nails against her desk to what sounded like a funeral tune. Maybe Sasuke wasn't joking about death…

He swallowed hard, gripping the raven's hand tighter, and becoming concerned when he felt the other hand shaking.

Glancing down Naruto realized he made the mistake of confusing his own shaking hand – arm, shoulder, body – for Sasuke's, which appeared to be perfectly still.

"You do understand that walking into this very room like _that_ of all things," Tsunade glanced down at their handhold, "is like walking into a death trap, don't you Uchiha Sasuke?"

"I am aware of it now." She definitely wanted to break Sasuke the way she had broken many of her desks, there was no questioning that. Sasuke held Naruto's hand a little tighter when the other pair of hate rays began to burn the back of his head.

The three of them were not the only ones occupying the room. Kakashi and Iruka must have been holding a deep conversation with the Hokage – Sasuke had one guess what about – before he and Naruto entered. The hate rays were obviously shooting from Iruka's eyes.

"We want to ask you something."

"'_We_'?" Tsunade's eyes made a glance at Naruto for the first time. She couldn't handle seeing her little blonde after Sasuke sullied him, but quickly went to whispering, "Teenager thing, teenager thing, teenager thing," to keep her cool.

Naruto nodded even though the elder woman's eyes were snapped shut as she continuously muttered the string of 'teenager thing's – making no sense to him.

Luckily enough, Sasuke could guess what she meant. His head turned slightly while the Hokage was calming herself to see the two males behind them. Kakashi had obviously snitched on him for finding and staying with Naruto, including what his activities with the blonde consisted of.

"Yes… See we-"

"No." Tsunade held up a hand to put Sasuke on hold. "If I have to hear anything that '_we_ want' then I would like to hear it from Naruto, not you."

Sasuke bit down on his lip to keep from getting temperamental; if the enraged Hokage could keep from flipping her lid then so could he, right? "Fine," he spat bitterly.

Giving Naruto's hand his own squeeze, Sasuke urged the blonde on to speak.

"Um…" Naruto was barely prepared for the outcome when Sasuke was going to be the one to ask, but now that _he_ had to ask he couldn't stop trembling.

"Whatever it is, Naruto, you can tell me. I won't get angry…" Tsunade's stern way of using soothing words didn't help the blonde much. He was almost positive that she was going to say 'I won't get angry _at you_.'

Naruto licked his lips from the nervous tension he felt. "W-would you…" He felt Sasuke's thumb gently rubbing a circle over his knuckles in such a slow motion that he was sure no one would catch on to the motion. His eyes lifted to stare at the Hokage directly. "Would you please accept our relationship?"

Light brown eyes grew in surprise, but quickly fell back to a serious stare. "Acceptance… to you two being together?" The orbs flashed over their heads to – Naruto and Sasuke's guess – Iruka.

For some odd reason the dark aura that filled the room from the start seemed to explode into something much greater, sending shivers down Naruto's spine before he quickly turned to his teachers standing behind him.

"Oh, we wish for Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei to accept us too!"

Kakashi's masked smile brightened a small portion of the sinister atmosphere. "There was no need in asking me. You've had it for a long while now."

That almost cheered Naruto up, but then his eyes fell upon what was causing the gloomy mood in the room: Iruka. His features could have depicted any emotion other than happy at this very moment as he stared back into Naruto's eyes, not Sasuke's, but Naruto's.

"Wh-Why are you looking at me like that, Iruka-sensei?"

The male diverted his gaze away and snapped them shut in irritation. "The two of you are teenagers. Teenagers tend to confuse what they think 'love' is with lust." His eyes flashed open as he finished what he wanted to say before either of the teens had a word in. "And _don't_ tell me otherwise. If you want to tell me anything then start with the only activity the two of you have engaged in before you try to prove me wrong!"

All eyes were pointed to the younger couple, expecting a remark from either to argue their side.

"We know what age group we represent." The gaze shifted to focus only on the Uchiha. "We know what lust is, we know what love is, and we know what 'activities' we have 'engaged in'. Even if we were twenty-five-years-old every one of you would still react this way and it's only because none of you trust _me_."

"…It's not about trusting you, Sasuke," Tsunade whispered lightly, the firm tone slowly drifting away. "…It's about trusting you with Naruto."

Said blonde nibbled at his lip when his hand was squeezed to the point where it smarted.

There was nothing to say against that. 'You can trust me' were only hollow words to them, and any argument Sasuke could think of was futile to whatever response he would receive.

"What do I have to do?" Sasuke turned to the Hokage finally, staring her straight in the eye to prove his sincerity.

A glimmer flashed across Tsunade's eyes. "I was hoping you would ask."

With a few quick movements she had a manila folder from one of her many cabinets with large letters labeling it: 'Uchiha Sasuke'.

The two younger males stepped forward with curiosity in seeing the file.

A flick of the wrist and Tsunade opened it and had the papers within spread across her desk, each branded with a different task to be completed.

"Complete all of these, which I'm positive you can do without much effort-" she was right. None of the bold lettering on the top of the papers looked to be anything more than the small missions Team Seven had completed in their early years. "-_and_ without making little getaways to Naruto's house, then I will start trusting you and your… _relationship_ with Naruto… meaning," she heaved a sigh, "I will accept it."

"Agreed!" Sasuke's grip seemed to tighten around Naruto's hand once more from the thrill of Tsunade's words.

"No complaints about the work. No rushing through the job; do it all right. As I've said before, no skipping just to go see Naruto. Treat it the way you would a mission."

Sasuke nodded his head slowly, showing how serious he was taking this. It startled Naruto a little since he thought _he_ was the only one worried about acceptance, but maybe – secretly – Sasuke wanted acceptance too. Perhaps Sasuke only wanted it for Naruto's sake… either way, it made him happy.

-

"Neh, Sasuke…?"

"Hn?"

The two males had made it back to the Uchiha's home and were ready for some – Naruto hoped for – _real_ quality time that didn't consist of a large amount of body contact.

"Mm… what if Iruka-sensei _doesn't_ accept us…?"

Sasuke pulled his white bed shirt over his head and stared off in space.

After a couple minutes Naruto wondered if Sasuke was ignoring his question and was about to ask once more, but-

"Then I'll have to _make _him accept us."

"What?" Naruto didn't expect this kind of response, and it kind of startled him. He was hoping that 'making' Iruka accept didn't involve anything that would bring either his teacher or the raven harm. "Why would you do something like that?"

This question wasn't pondered over for an insane amount of time like the one before. "Because you want his acceptance…" Sasuke ruffled Naruto's hair teasingly then lead him over to the bed's edge and sat down. Their eyes connected a little more meaningful than normal and before Naruto registered what Sasuke was doing, he was straddling the Uchiha's lap.

"W-wait, Sasuke!" A hand forced itself to the raven's mouth to shield Naruto from an inevitable kiss.

Onyx eyes darted in irritation to the azure pair of orbs. "What?" he mumbled from behind Naruto's hand.

"Um…" Naruto hesitated, forgetting what he was about to say as soon as the aggravated pair of eyes pierced into his. "Uh, could we possibly do something… um... oral now?" he sputtered nervously, thinking that the raven would fume for sure, so his eyes grew pleading against Sasuke's widened ones.

"I…" Sasuke's face flushed heatedly at Naruto's suggestion and serious expression. "I didn't think you would care for something like that… e-especially now."

Naruto blinked. "Why wouldn't I? I was hoping that we could for – I don't know – a couple hours before going to bed…"

"A-A COUPLE OF _HOURS_?!" Sasuke nearly choked at the idea.

A saddened expression fell on the blonde's face. "Oh… maybe an hour then?"

"I don't think I could last THAT long either way!" Sasuke was too embarrassed to feel flattered at Naruto's idea of how far his stamina could go. Fact was: he couldn't, and he highly doubted Naruto could.

"Geez…" Naruto's brow folded down angrily. "I can't believe you. I think you could last _at least _thirty minutes if I was the one putting all the effort into-mmph!" Now his mouth was covered by the Uchiha.

"N-Naruto… I appreciate it, really, but I seriously can't last that long…"

"Well, yeah, with how silent you are about _everything_ you wouldn't last!" The blonde pulled off of Sasuke's lap and flopped down by the raven's side. "Let some emotion out for once! Communicating _can_ go both ways, you know?"

Sasuke's face froze. "Wait… 'Communicating'…? You mean… you want to _talk_ with me for a couple hours?"

"Ah! Yes! What did you _think_ I was talking about?!" Naruto practically yelled from frustration.

Sasuke pressed a hand over his eyes. "Something you'd rather not know…"

A curious – but still irritated – look crossed Naruto's face. "Yes I would." What else _could_ have crossed Sasuke's mind over a conversation _about __**having**_ a conversation?!

Onyx peered over to the blonde in humiliation. "Next time say 'can we talk' instead of 'can we do something _oral'_!"

Naruto opened his mouth to growl a response, but the word 'oral' finally hit home and forced him to silence. He made a _very_ poor decision in wording what he meant.

Sasuke's brow knitted together in worry. "If you want to talk, we can talk…" A pillow was thrown harshly into his face. "Hey!" The raven pulled the pillow away only to have another smack him roughly. "What the hell's wrong with you?!"

"YOU PERVERT! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! THAT'S _GROSS_! HOW THE HELL DO YOU MISTAKE _TALKING_ WITH-WITH-!" Naruto's face glowed brightly. He was so flustered at Sasuke's process of thought that he no longer felt that he, himself, had the privilege to say something without it being transformed into something _dirty_!

A rush of movement was felt and Naruto suddenly realized that Sasuke had him pinned to the bed with each of his arms restrained above his head.

"Dobe. I said we could _talk_, so _stop_ hitting me with pillows."

The blonde bit down on his lip. He didn't know what he wanted to talk about now that both of them had had _that_ _**lecherous**_ thought cross their minds! "I change my mind. I want to go to bed. I can't carry a serious conversation with you _now_. I don't think I can _ever _carry a serious conversation with you!"

He made to pull away and attempt to cleanse his mind, but Sasuke pushed him back on his back. "Don't be that way, Naruto. Just talk to me."

"I can't, Sasuke."

"Then…" the Uchiha flicked his eyes about, rummaging through his brain in haste to think of something. He held his attention on Naruto's stomach, now visible from the shirt because of his posture. Sasuke let a shy smile that slowly morphed into a smirk cross his face and bent down to whisper, "_do you want to try it?_"

Azure eyes narrowed. "Try _what_?"

Sasuke pulled back far enough so Naruto could see his mischievous expression. "You know."

Another heated blush filled Naruto's cheeks as he stared back uncertainly into onyx orbs. "Uhm…" **(1)**

* * *

**(1) Ahem. What Sasuke is suggesting to (if you're not sure) is what he thought Naruto was talking about earlier. (being a BJ... a blow job. I hope most of you know what that is because I'm not spelling it out! _blushes_)**

**Okies... so... I don't know when I'll be back again with this story... hopefully sometime soon! For readers of "Permanent Pigtails"... I'll try my best to finish it next, but, again, I'm not promising anything.**

**Durn... I feel like I've gotten off track from the dog situation... but I'm not. It's just... well... almost over, so things are going to get back to normal.**

**Preview: Aw, crap... what does happen in the next chapy?**

**Readers are loved. Reviewers are adored.**

**Forever the BakaNekoSan :3**


	16. Our Time

**Heya. I was so avoiding my SasuNaru stories. So sad, but I couldn't hide from them forever. I'm just sorry I kept away from everyone still reading this!**

**Right now I am dead tired and can't think of an amazing title that really fits this title, so if anyone can come up with something more... catchy? I might concider it...**

**Warning: AAHHH! Hm... Ya know? I really don't think there's anything at all. Hm? Oh! Mushy moments, but I like these! They're things I wish for with... MY CRUSH! EEEEEEE! Girly moment. (sweatdrop)**

**I think the next chapy might be the last, but you never know with me.**

**Our Time**

"Sasuke."

It was the following day of Sasuke receiving orders to complete tasks for the Hokage to start trusting him and the Uchiha was already hard at work – and taking his time to make sure he made no flaws – cleaning up a garden that had been swarmed by weeds.

Sure, this kind of thing embarrassed Sasuke back when he was twelve, but this time he had a motive for doing this odd job: Naruto.

"What?"

And of course – just as Tsunade had promised – Iruka and Kakashi were behind him every step of the way, though they were uprooting the weeds too. Sasuke knew for sure that it wasn't pure kindness driving them to help, so they must have screwed up somewhere with the Hokage.

He smirked at that thought and felt a little better about being assigned all of this frustrating work.

"You appear tired for some reason… Did you stay up late last night?" Iruka's tone wasn't concerned in the slightest with Sasuke's well being and sounded more venomous.

Why was it that Iruka asked questions like this if he was nearly one-hundred percent sure that he knew what the answer was? Sasuke snagged another weed roughly, picturing the stem to be Iruka's neck.

"You could say that."

Iruka's facial expression darkened ten times more than it already was. "What else could I guess? That Naruto was up with you? That you were staying up, not for a means of 'bonding orally,' but something else?"

A smile curled Sasuke's lips up when hearing _that _word again and had to practically bite his tongue to keep from saying, 'we _did _bond orally.' He _would_ be killed for something like that by this character. At least this let him know where Naruto based his communication skills off of.

"Yeah, you could say those things happened too."

Surprisingly enough, Iruka didn't explode from that remark. He only took a couple breaths and asked, "Why Naruto of all people? Why do this to _him_?"

Sasuke stood up suddenly and wiped his brow of the sweat trickling down. He faced Iruka. The elder male didn't appear to be a ticking bomb any more, just a little concerned now that it was about everyone's favorite blonde. "Because he is important to me."

"But _why_ is he important to you?"

"…Maybe it took a while to realize, but even back then – when we were first starting out as Team Seven – Naruto was important to me. We had a bond that neither of us had to speak of to confirm." Sasuke wiped his forehead again, growing antsy to giving this information even though it meant a possible 'I will accept you together' from Iruka – something he knew Naruto yearned for with all his heart. The air was already hot and heavy, but speaking of his feelings made it sweltering. "When I risked my life for his the first time it skyrocketed that bond… and made me realize what I felt for him. Even in my betrayal I still liked him… a lot."

"It was _only_ 'like'?" There was an ounce of skepticism in Iruka's voice.

Sasuke fell to the ground in frustration to continue pulling the plants from the ground. "Of course it was _only_ 'like' back then! I was _only_ twelve!" He didn't understand why the feeling of 'love' was needed at such a young age. Yes, he did love Naruto back then, but that was more from the bond they shared as friends. What he had for Naruto was… a crush, and a big one, but now it was something beyond the reaches of such a childish idea of romance.

Iruka was silent after that, allowing for the three of them to finish working in peace. Once they were through with that task for the day, however…

"How serious are you about Naruto?"

A rough sigh was heaved from Kakashi as he passed by the two of them. Hearing all of this talk when all of the answers were obvious – well, at least to him – was beginning to drive him down the road to crazy town.

"Very."

"How can you prove it?"

Sasuke stared back at Iruka with irritation. "I'll propose, and right in front of you if that's what you really want." The appalled expression that shot across the elder – but very childish – male's face made the younger want to snort in amusement when he caught sight of it. "I'm not afraid to do it."

And with those words smacking the interrogating mood out of Iruka, the man fell to silence. He stayed that way, blanched face, wide eyed, and mouth slightly parted, until he somehow found his voice again, though he didn't use it right away. He started after Kakashi and if Sasuke hadn't been expecting something to be said then he would have missed his soft words.

"I'm only half satisfied with that."

The Uchiha scowled angrily, and he kicked at one of the sacks of weeds they had pulled, tipping it over, and crossed his arms.

_What more do you want from me you bastard?!_

-

Two weeks flew by in a hurry. Sasuke continued with the tasks given and was nearly done, only having one more to complete before hearing what Tsunade had to say.

Iruka no longer questioned him and seemed to be more trusting, but the raven thought the only reason that he was really okay with everything was because of how cheerful Naruto was now. He didn't act much different from before, but the aura he gave off nearly twenty-four-seven was pure bliss.

Kakashi became his carefree self once more now that everything nightmarish started looking brighter. He even teased Iruka like he used to and received smacks across the head for doing so as well as a heated blush across the scarred face that Kakashi never appeared to openly notice.

"So, Sasuke, what is our last task to complete?"

Sasuke had the last paper within his hands, staring down at it incredulously and wanting to strangle the Hokage. She knew very damn well that she was trying to remind and humiliate him with this!

"Cleaning up the pet store." His tone held no emotion, but he felt the venom that wanted to lash out. He would have to wait to see Tsunade again before striking. Wait, that would be bad… he wasn't allowed to complain! "_Damn it_!"

"Ugh… you mean I have to clean that place up _again_?" Kakashi lightly whined. "What happened this time? A rabid _cat_ got on the loose?"

Onyx orbs flashed at the elder man. "Don't compare me to a rabid animal when you know very well that it was _your own __**damn**_ _fault_ to begin with!"

Kakashi crossed his arms. "It wasn't my fault. I didn't _make_ you chase me. I was trying to protect my book!" He whipped out the small volume of corrupted reading material to quickly flip through it, confirming that he had done his best and succeeded in defending it.

"You were screwing with me, you bastard!"

"Now, now." Iruka held a hand up. "I think we should be a little mature about this, boys. Let's just get it over with so we can put it behind us."

_You're one to talk about maturity! _Sasuke's glower remained on the silver headed male, but he kept his mouth shut, as did Kakashi.

Entering the pet shop brought back the memories of previous events – knocking over that scratching post resting exactly where it was last time, which still had a couple claw marks in it from 'Bun-bun's' dash into it, smashing the fish tanks and bowls that no longer sat as display where anything could crash into them, etcetera – and half smiled.

"Ah, yes. This was where our dear Naruto bought Sasuke his first collar!" Kakashi was given a hard smack to the head from both Sasuke and Iruka. "Ow! What?! I didn't mean anything by it!"

"It's called 'innuendo' Kakashi, and you know very well that you were using it." Iruka scolded the male rubbing his head as Sasuke noticed one of the employees tapping his foot impatiently.

The Uchiha made his way over and was welcomed with fierce orders of what to clean, organize, and throw out. He glared at the back of the male's head once he turned around to walk away, but went straight into work, yelling back at the two quarrelling idiots behind him to shut up and help.

-

Uzumaki Naruto gazed up at the bright blue sky. He heaved a sigh, anxious for a certain raven haired male to finish up with his last day of work so they would be free to do what they wished. Naruto felt the heat seep into his cheeks at the thought of a date and rolled over onto his side.

He was stretched out on the roof of his apartment, facing the direction Sasuke would come from after work. The smile spreading across his face was hard to suppress at the moment. He was hiding it from anyone that could see – which was ridiculous since there was no one in the area – but he felt happy for once. Truly happy.

"Dobe, what are you doing up there?"

A jolt of surprise and excitement shot down Naruto's spine as he sprung up to his feet to spy the Uchiha.

"Sasuke!" He bounded from the roof and hopped off the ground and into Sasuke's arms for a hug; the raven's guard had been – purposely – down, so they fell to the ground in a heap. "You're _completely_ done now, right?!"

"Mm… pretty much… but we still don't know whether or not we're accepted."

A light groan was his response.

"It's not so bad, Naruto. Iruka said he wanted to talk to you alone and Tsunade said she wanted to see me, so we can get this over with by tonight."

Naruto's eyes brightened at '_tonight_'. Sasuke had something planned; he didn't know what, but he knew it was _something_. The raven kept saying something would be _tonight_. His azure orbs sparkled affectionately and hopefully at the idea of it being their first date! Naruto situated himself to be fully on top of the other male, face-to-face, nose-to-nose.

"What are we doing tonight?!"

"Again, Naruto, it's a surprise." The Uchiha cupped the whiskered cheeks and pressed his lips against Naruto's, sliding his fingers back into the spiky hair. He traced his tongue across the willing, lower lip, but pulled back at the blonde's dismay. "Let's go see the Hokage and Iruka."

A whine escaped Naruto's lips when the male pulled them both to their feet. "Unfair, Sasuke…"

-

"Iruka… sensei…?"

Sasuke told Naruto that their teacher would wait for him in his classroom. He was hoping that perhaps the man had some other traumatic ordeal to handle at the moment, but there he was, sitting behind his desk and staring off at the floor in deep thought.

He cleared his throat and tried again, "Iruka-sensei?"

The male tensed and quickly rose when seeing Naruto. He crossed the short distance between them and gave the blonde a loving hug. "I'm glad you came."

"Did you think I wouldn't?" Naruto's hands squeezed the closest person he had to a father. He felt his fake surprise transform his words into a hesitant and guilty question and bit his lip.

"With the way I've treated Sasuke I wasn't sure."

They parted at that. Naruto stared worriedly while Iruka's gaze reflected guilt and concern.

"Naruto?" His hands clamped down on the blonde's shoulders, speaking like he was Naruto's father. "You don't want to be with him, do you?"

"Yes!" Naruto's voice hitched in his throat. Iruka still hated the idea. "I do! I really do!"

Iruka turned and sighed ruefully. "Both of you say that, but I have to wonder… where would either of you be right now… if Sasuke _hadn't_ transformed into a dog… if you _didn't_ walk down the alleyway that day… if someone like _Sakura_ had picked up Sasuke instead of you?" He turned back around to face Naruto straight on, taking in the horrified expression. "Neither of you would confess of these feelings you have right now. It could have been anyone that had walked up the alleyway and picked up Sasuke. He could have fallen in love with anyone."

"But-!"

"_But_-" Naruto paused, mouth gaping open to spill his opinion, his facts, but he was surprised to hear another conclusion from his teacher, "_but_ it didn't happen that way…" Iruka gave a huff of irritation, yet he didn't seem irritated at all. "Some people believe that everything happens for a reason… don't look at me like that, Naruto, it isn't me! It's Kakashi that feels that way. Listen, I've been annoying the hell out of Sasuke with questions, now it's your turn."

Naruto smiled and quickly shoved his hand to his forehead military style. "I'm ready anytime you are!"

-

"Uchiha… Sasuke…" Tsunade didn't even look in the door's direction when it opened. She sat in her chair, watching the village as if the raven were bugging her for no known reason. "I may never forgive you for what you have done."

Sasuke's eyes widened in shock before falling to the mess that used to be her office. It was even messier than the times he had seen it when she threw a full-fledged tantrum!

"Oh… _that_… I thought I was really in trouble." Sasuke's expression calmed to a smirk.

"You ARE in TOUBLE! It's YOUR fault that this place is a complete MESS!"

He only snickered. There was no way she couldn't accept them now. Tsunade looked pissed, but that's because Sasuke knew that there was no way she could refuse her agreement.

Sasuke's smirk faded to a smile and was met with one of the Hokage's, making her look unnaturally calm and motherly.

"Good work, Uchiha. Now get your menace out of my office before it is completely demolished!"

-

_This is it…_ thought an uneasy Uchiha as he made his way to Naruto's house later that night, _the first time Naruto gets what he's really been wishing for… something that's shattering my confidence right now…_

"_Dobe, don't come to my house. I'll meet you at 7:30 tonight, alright?"_

The intense spark of emotion within those pair of bright blue eyes was still melting Sasuke's heart, but he was afraid of screwing something like this up. What if Naruto could tell he was nervous? What if he slipped up and stuttered?! Sasuke didn't _stutter_! These absurd ideas were not supposed to be conjured up by someone like Uchiha Sasuke; they were meant for the more fretful types of people… like Naruto.

_Right… Naruto's the one that should be freaking out now. Not me; Naruto. He's the girl in this relationship!_

Sasuke took a quick check over himself. He was dressed rather nice, wearing black, dress slacks, a black and white vertically striped, dress shirt with cuffs, and black dress shoes. He felt a little over dressed, but at least he wasn't wearing a tux. A grimace came over his face. Dressing up wasn't his favorite thing to do; it left him feeling uncomfortable, especially right now.

_Okay… I look descent enough to take Naruto on our… first date…_ The last two words brought a sour sensation to the pit of his stomach as he reached the door to the happy, little blonde's abode.

It came too soon. He wasn't ready for this! Maybe he should just turn around right now while he could… but then Naruto would be heartbroken! Perhaps he should explain how he felt about this and-! NO! That was even _worse_! It would be the ultimate humiliation if Naruto found out that _Uchiha Sasuke_ was afraid of something like this, something where it wasn't even close to a life-or-death situation, but a sort of scenario that any sane person would prefer over the first choice!

_You would think someone that has already gone to bed with their partner wouldn't behave like this…_ Onyx glimpsed over the door and lingered in hesitation. He raised his arm and was two inches away from tapping against it before he shied away, spinning around to head in the opposite direction.

_Yeah, I'm a pansy! I'll admit it – to myself! I'll just tell Naruto I was on my way when I was struck by some illness… psh… Like he would believe me!_

"SASUKE!" The slam of the door hitting the wall made the raven jump.

The Uchiha felt a chill run up his spine, forcing his hair to stand up straight in horrid surprise. He turned. "N-Naruto…?" Any words that he was about to spew in excuse for anything and everything escaped him when his eyes came across the adorable little blonde dressed just as neatly as he was: a nice, light blue, button up shirt with cuffs, a pair of dark taupe trousers, and black dress shoes to top it off! It even looked as if Naruto attempted to fight his untamable hair to lie flat, but it poked up in a couple places.

_How_ could he even think about leaving something _that_ cute all alone? And to think, Naruto did all this for Sasuke! His heart swelled and the nervous tension still lingered, but not enough to make him throw out an excuse to put this on hold until he found his manhood again.

Naruto's starry eyes never left the Uchiha as he spoke. "I thought you said you would be here at 7:30! It's 8:05 right now! Are you just fashionably late to things like this?!" His eyes roamed over Sasuke's attire and flushed. "You look… pretty cool…"

'_Cool_' wasn't the word Sasuke was going for… He smirked, feeling more at ease. This _was_ Naruto and he was just begging to be teased; something Sasuke was a master at doing.

"And you look… _cute_." He stepped closer to Naruto so he could bend down to whisper the last bit in his ear, smiling when he pulled back to watch what his words did to Naruto.

"S-S-S-SHUT UP, TEME! GUYS ARE _NOT_ AND NEVER _WILL BE_ CUTE!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and kept from chuckling long enough to take the opening Naruto gave him for more teasing. "Then you must be a new breed of 'guy', but that's okay with me… It's a turn-on."

"SASUKE!" Naruto whined as his face only managed to get redder and redder despite his attempts to keep it neutral. "Can we _please_ just go out now?!" The rush of arms twisting around and behind his back caught him off guard. His heart skipped a beat, and for a moment he only stared against Sasuke's shoulder then, gradually, brought his arms around the taller male's shoulders. "Everything okay…?"

"Mm-hm…"

"Then why…?"

"I just wanted to hold you. Is that okay?"

The question was soft and meaningful to the blonde. He held his eyes shut for a long moment, concentrating on breathing and listening to his heart run, what felt like, a never ending race.

As he talked he tried to keep from sounding like he had a sour knot in his throat that was spreading into his nose. "That's… better than okay… Sasuke."

-

"What? You're _serious_?!" Sasuke watched as Naruto took another bite of his fancy ramen – the Uchiha couldn't believe that an elegant restaurant would carry such a thing; he made it his goal to find a place that didn't, but the staff appeared to be afraid and willing to do whatever pleased Naruto when they witnessed the malicious expression on his face at finding that ramen wasn't a part of the menu…

Naruto swallowed hard, caught up and excited about the conversation as well. "Yeah! I was the same way, but Iruka-sensei is all for it now!"

"I still think there's a catch…" Sasuke mused over what diabolical plans Iruka could have in store for them now that everything seemed perfect for the third time. They couldn't be _completely_ off the hook… could they?

The blonde watched Sasuke's serious expression for a moment. He liked treating his eyes this way… when Sasuke was oblivious to being stared at… Naruto almost sighed, but remembered he had a mouthful of ramen and swallowed it before he caused his own death from being a sloppy eater.

He pondered on about his conversation with Iruka…

"_How long has he been the love of your life?"_

"_Ych! Don't make it sound like something completely sappy, Iruka-sensei! That's just gross!"_

_Iruka quirked a brow. "I'm sure if Sasuke said, 'Naruto, you're the love of my life.' in a low, romantic voice you wouldn't think it 'gross' at all…"_

_Naruto avoided the truth with his original answer to the 'love' inquiry, "We were close on Team Seven… I don't think it was until much later that I found how much I liked him…" His voice lowered a couple decibels. "I think it was when he left… I realized how much he meant to me… 'You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone' I guess… Mm… and when he came back… I couldn't come out right then and there to say… 'I like you!'-"_

"_Why not?"_

"_I… couldn't be like Sakura-chan… I couldn't tell Sasuke that I like him and have him reject me right then and there… I thought that he wouldn't feel the same because… well, he didn't like __**anyone**__ and… we're both guys… I felt silly about the whole thing after a… certain attempt to tell him how I felt since… he called me a girl…" Naruto's eyes shifted to stare directly at his teacher then quickly whipped them back at the ground. "But I couldn't get over it. He was all I thought about at one point. I always wanted to see him because it made me happy, and yet… whenever I saw him… I had nothing to say… we made fun of and teased one another mostly, both of us never seeing how much we liked each other… then he disappeared __**again**__, and this time without a motivation that I could see… I thought I was going to die from the loneliness, Iruka-sensei._

"_And… it just grew from there. I know I… love him… that I want to be with him always… You may not see it as 'love'… but… I really wish you would…"_

_Iruka never dropped his attention or stare from Naruto as he told his story. Naruto was sure that he would tell him exactly what he told Sasuke: 'I'm only __**half**__ satisfied!' He felt sick when the heavy weight of his father figure's hand plopped down on his shoulder, weighing heavier than it should, but he knew it was the tension driving him mad._

"_I trust your decision, Naruto… I always have… and I won't start to doubt you now… I'm sorry I hurt you… I really am, but…" his expression showed genuine sincerity, "I feel like a father losing his daughter to the school slut!"_

Naruto could barely contain the humor he saw in that line. He didn't quite agree with the 'daughter' part, but calling Sasuke the 'school slut' was so ridiculous, it was funny! He saw – somewhat – why Iruka was worried, what with Sasuke's and Naruto's backgrounds of fighting almost nonstop both verbally and physically, and decided to forgive him.

"Nn… What's so funny…?"

He quickly snapped back to reality when the irritated tone broke through the memory of his one-way, private joke with Iruka. His attention locked onto the peeved male and instantly felt small at the glare.

"Uh… nothing's funny… just… remembering something…"

"Hn… 'nothing's funny' but you looked like you were about to split your sides with laughter… and only seconds ago your face appeared to be smoking in embarrassment…" Sasuke's brow knitted together in a scowl.

This took Naruto by surprise. He smiled and chuckled a couple times.

"There you go again…" The Uchiha rolled his eyes and turned in his chair to face away from Naruto.

"I can't believe you, Sasuke…" Naruto was beaming now. He jumped from his own chair and sat on the edge of the sulky raven's seat, nudging him in the ribs with his elbow teasingly. "You are sooooo jealous that I have a secret joke that you're not a part of! And that it's with someone _else_!"

"Like I care," Sasuke scoffed, but scooted over in the chair to make room for the blonde.

"You know you do! You're just too prideful, stubborn, self-righteous,-"

"Are you TRYING to piss me off?!" Sasuke turned in his seat to better growl at Naruto, but was met with the smaller body's tackle of a hug and instantly melted into nothing but desire to hold him once more. "You're so aggravating… I wish I could hate you right now."

Naruto made a sort of giggle and squeezed the raven tighter, liking the way their bodies felt against one another when they wore dress clothes. It was a good thing they were in a secluded section of the restaurant or people would throw questioning looks at Naruto's needy hug that consisted of half his body pressed against Sasuke's while both were sitting on one chair.

"Mm… Thanks for taking me out, Sasuke… I really liked this." Pleading azure orbs glanced up to soft onyx. "Can we do it again… really soon?"

"If you really want to…"

The blonde grew thoughtful. "Do… _you_ like this…?"

Sasuke finally wrapped his arms around the other's body and pulled him closer – if possible. "No," he spoke in a tone dripping with sarcasm, "I can't stand this," and pressed his lips to Naruto's forehead, "at _all_."

Naruto giggled again as Sasuke pulled the both of them from the chair to stand. The Uchiha slowly pushed Naruto against the table with his body. The blonde made a small whining sound when he made contact with the table.

"Uhm… Sasuke, wait, what are you…?"

In one swift and cunning movement Sasuke forced his hands to the table to pin Naruto without the luxury of an escape. He pressed his face to the side of Naruto's neck and groaned hungrily when the smaller body stiffened against his and quivered a bit.

"Sasuke!" Naruto squeaked, "We're in a _restaurant_!"

"Mmmmm-hmmmm…" The raven wound his arms tighter, squeezing Naruto closer. "Naruto… I seriously can't get enough of you."

This was surprising to the blonde. He automatically covered Sasuke in his own hug, seeing now that the male had no intent of sexual actions in a public area - or so he was thinking and hoping. It was more than enough to make him cry…

Silently against Sasuke's chest - while the male held him tenderly, rubbing circles in his back to show he cared and that he always would - Naruto cried and didn't stop.

* * *

**I so didn't edit this chapy. I wrote 80 percent of it tonight and I am far too tired to read over it... if you find any annoying mistakes could you be a dear and tell me. Or if there's an iffy part (which there normally is) then feel free to tell me of it as well!**

**I love everyone right now! Yay!**

**Forever the BakaNekoSan :3**


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